Comparative Antibacterial Activity of Stingless Bee Honey and Standard Antibiotics Against Common Eye Pathogens

Abstract

Isolates of pathogens collected from infected eyes and their sensitivity to eight standard antibiotics used in the treatment of eye infections-and to stingless bee honey (SBH), used for treating eye infections in Ghana, was compared. Pure Meliponula bucandei honey and concentrations of 80%, 60%, 40% and 20% in distilled water were prepared. Twenty four patients with ocular infections who attended the Central Regional hospital and Christian Eye Hospital were selected for this study. Cultures of the collected specimens collectively revealed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most frequently isolated organism, representing 50% of the isolates, followed by Staphylococci aureus (31.25%). The least frequently isolated was Staphylococcus epidermidis (18.75%). In a disc diffusion method, pure SBH and concentrations of ≥60% produced the strongest activity on all three isolated pathogens. The isolate Pseudomonas aeruginosa was totally resistant to the 20% and 40% concentrations of SBH. The standard antibiotics; Ampicillin , Tetracycline , Gentamycin , Erythromycin , Penicillin , Cloxacillin , Cefuroxime and Cotrimoxazole , used in concentrations of 10 μg/ml varied in their activity against the test microbes but was generally lower than the antibacterial activity of the pure SBH and its ≥60% concentrations (p < 0.05). SBH had more inhibitory effect on the test microbes than commonly used antibiotics although the activity against the Gram negative bacterium (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) was limited. SBH therefore, can offer a suitable and better alternative in managing common eye infections in the event of therapeutic failure with standard antibiotic compounds.