Researchers are now desperately looking for funding to develop their work and carry out a clinical trial. Peter Warn from the University's Faculty of Medicine who worked on the research said: "We believe that our discovery could revolutionise the fight to combat MRSA and other 'super bugs', but we need to carry out a trial and to do that we need a small amount of funding around 30,000.
"We are having problems finding this funding because essential oils cannot be patented as they are naturally occurring, so few drug companies are interested in our work as they do not see it as commercially viable. Obviously, we find this very frustrating as we believe our findings could help to stamp out MRSA and save lives," added Peter, who is based at Hope Hospital.
Essential oils are chemical compounds found within aromatic plants, which the plants use to fight off infections. Researchers tested 40 essential oils against ten of the most deadly bacteria and fungi. Two of these oils killed MRSA and E. coli almost instantly, while a third was shown to act over a longer period of time, meaning that any soaps or shampoos made by blending these three oils would be effective over a period of time.
Jacqui Stringer who is Clinical Lead of Complementary Therapies at the Christie Hospital instigated the research and said: "The use of plants in medicine is nothing new but some people regard the use of essential oils as unconventional. Our research shows a very practical application which could be of enormous benefit to the NHS and its patients.
"The reason essential oils are so effective is because they are made up of a
'"/>
Contact: Rachael McGraw
rachael.s.mcgraw@manchester.ac.uk
44-161-275-2111
University of Manchester
21-Dec-2004