They won't be called superbugs for nothing. These types of bacteria are highly resistant to drugs that they are very difficult to treat. However, scientists may have found the solution via a centuries-old manuscript.
Scientists from the University of Nottingham got hold of an Anglo-Saxon manual known as Bald's Leechbook. It served as an instructional guide for treating a variety of ailments including an eye infection.
After translating the page, they discovered that the salve used onion, garlic, wine, bile from a cow, and leek. The onions and garlic will be of equal parts and they have to be chopped and crashed using a mortar. Then at least 25mL of English wine is added followed by the cow's bile that has already been transformed into salt. The mixture is then chilled for a little more than a week at around 4 degrees Celsius before it's applied on the eyes.
The scientists remade the recipe, but rather than using it as an eye salve, they applied it on drug-resistant bacteria, namely, MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), which is one of the most common and can be potentially acquired in a health care facility.
The results were simply described as "astonishing" and "amazing." While the salve didn't wipe out the entire bacterial culture, the recipe killed 90%. Moreover, the scientists believed that even then, doctors of the early times had already been conducting experiments and studies in relation to bacterial infection.
According to Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, drug-resistant bacteria can affect at least 2 million people in the United States and kill more than 20,000 every year. The health concern has become significant that the Obama administration has introduced an initiative that will pour a huge amount of money not only for controlling the spread of the bacteria but also for developing specific drugs that can eventually kill the superbugs.
