ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ALOE VERA GEL AND HONEY AGAINST BACTERIA ISOLATES FROM WOUND ASPIRATES

Wounds may harbour diverse microorganisms, especially bacteria that are resistant to many conventional antibiotics. The aim of this study is therefore to evaluate the antibiotic activities of Aloe vera gel and honey against bacteria isolates from wounds. A cross sectional study of wound aspirates from a health care center was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial activities of Aloe vera and honey against bacteria isolates from wounds following standard microbiological procedures. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates to standard antibiotic discs, Aloe vera and honey were done using the agar-diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the Aloe vera gel and honey (alone and in combination) were also evaluated using the agar-diffusion method. The bacterial isolated were: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Streptococcus pyogenes. The study showed that honey had a higher antibacterial activity than Aloe vera gel with an inhibition zone diameter (IZD) measuring mm. It also showed that Staphylococcus aureus was the most predominant pathogen found in wounds while Proteus vulgaris and Staphylococcus epidermidis were the least predominant.