A study by researchers at the University of Ottowa and reported during the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Meeting in Chicago found that in eleven isolates of three separate biofilms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and methicicillin-resistant and -susceptible Staphylococcus aureus), honey was significantly more effective in killing both planktonic and biofilm-grown forms of the bacteria, than the antibiotics commonly used against the bacteria.
Given the historical uses of honey in some cultures as a homeopathic treatment for bad wound infections, the authors suggested that their findings may hold important clinical implications in the treatment of chronic
rhinosinusitis, with topical treatment a possibility.
Chronic rhinosinusitis affects approximately 31 million people each year in the United States alone, costing over $4 billion in direct health expenditures and lost workplace productivity. It is among the three most common chronic diseases in all of North America.
