Nosocomial illnesses are infections contracted during a stay in a healthcare establishment, also called healthcare-associated infections. They would affect one in 20 patients in France. However, the Covid-19 epidemic has greatly increased the number of hospitalizations around the world, which could multiply this figure.
We know how to treat these pathologies in large part, very often via antibiotics. But researchers are concerned about the growing resistance of pathogens to these, due to their misuse.
A question then arises, how to treat these diseases when these bacteria are no longer sensitive to antibiotics? The answer may lie in the tree bark, due to their fungicidal and bactericidal propertiesunderlines a study carried out by the Biomaterials and inflammation in bone sites laboratories and the Molecular Chemistry Institute of Reims and relayed by The Conversation.
Bacteria are able to clump together to form a kind of barrier to external attacks, this is called a biofilm. This happens when the latter panic, and in this case, antibiotics can aggravate this phenomenon, rather than treating… Scientists are therefore looking for a way to prevent the formation of this biofilm or to destroy it.
Cherry bark, able to fight against Staphylococcus aureus
They then became interested in a biological source, tree bark. For trees, they represent a both physical and chemical shield, with interesting antibacterial properties. The scientists therefore decided to study 10 different species: aspen, Norway spruce, European larch, pedunculate oak, beech, black alder, cherry, sycamore, common ash and Canada poplar.
The powder produced from the barks has been tested against various bacteria. Three barks have proved interesting for their fungicidal and bactericidal properties. Specifically that of the cherry tree, which, for example, kills nine strains of microorganisms, including staphylococcus aureus, which causes 14% of nosocomial infections. If further research still needs to be done, this discovery could be very interesting in the fight against future infections, which could be the first cause of death by 2050, if antibiotics were to lose all their effectiveness.
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