Aussie Antibacterial

News Note

By Darren Buford

Originally published in Massage & Bodywork magazine, August/September 2002.

Australian scientists have discovered a natural remedy — a combination of eucalyptus and tea tree oil — for the clean-up of 90 percent of hospital-acquired staph infections (known as staph infections), and has proven effective for the treatment of musculoskeletal infections where antibiotics have failed. In fact, of the 25 cases that were treated (some wounds involving exposed bone, a joint and soft-tissue) 22 were treated with the new antibacterial alone. Most surprising was the product’s tuberculocidal activity. When exposed to five wild strains of tuberculosis, the strains were 90 percent destroyed within one minute and 100 percent destroyed within five minutes or longer. Particularly appealing to physicians, the antibacterial is versatile and can be inhaled, ingested or applied topically.