Garlic ingredient wipes out hospital superbugs in tests
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Tests by Dr Ron Cutler, a microbiologist, showed it can cure patients with MRSA-infected wounds "within days", he said. Allicin, which occurs naturally in garlic, not only killed known varieties of MRSA, but also new superbug generations resistant to "last-resort" antibiotics such as vancomycin. The findings will be published in the Journal of Biomedical Science in the new year.
Dr Cutler, from the University of East London, said: "Antibiotics are increasingly ineffective [against MRSA]. Plant compounds have evolved over millions of years as chemical defence agents against infection. Garlic has been used in medicine for centuries."
MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) causes 2,000 deaths in UK hospitals each year, mainly by infecting surgical wounds. Dr Cutler is starting clinical trials.
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