| Popis: |
T his paper reviews briefly the evidence that tea tree oil may be suitable as a topical antimicrobial agent. Tea tree oil is the essential oil extracted by steam distillation from the Australian native tree Melaleuca alternifolia. It has a long history of use in Australia, and has emerged as a possible topical antimicrobial because of antimicrobial resistance to conventional agents. The history, production and chemistry of tea tree oil are described. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of tea tree oil has now been reported in numerous papers, and there is good evidence for antibacterial, antifungal and, to a lesser extent, antiviral activity. What is lacking is sufficient numbers of clinical trials to verify this efficacy in vivo. Tea tree oil is only safe to use as a topical agent and although skin sensitivity has been a concern, the evidence for this is not strong. However, long-term usage studies are still required. Based on the published data, tea tree oil may prove to be a very useful topical antimicrobial and there is a role for infection control practitioners in the validation of its use in clinical practice. |
