Christina Lee of the University of Nottingham discovered a recipe to remedy eye infections in a medical volume named "Bald's Leechbook," one of the earliest published medical textbook that dates to the 10th Century. Because the instructions were clear, she decided to bring it into a microbiology lab to examine if it could really work against bacteria.
In its ninth Century-old English recipe, it required wine, bile from the stomach of a cow, and two Allium species which could be leek, onion, or garlic. The topical potion was brewed, stained, and allowed to sit for a week and two days.
The microbiologist Freya Harrison said "We thought that Bald's eyesalve might show a small amount of antibiotic activity, because each of the ingredients has been shown by other researchers to have some effect on bacteria in the lab. Copper and bile salts can kill bacteria, and the garlic family of plants make chemicals that interfere with the bacteria's ability to damage infected tissues," the Engadget reported.
With the use of fresh ingredients following the original flow procedure, it obliterated the antibiotic-resistant MRSA bacteria, killing 999 of the 1, 000 infected cells.
MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is one of the biggest problems in hospitals because it could lead to fatal bloodstream infections and life-threatening pneumonia. Repeated antibiotic exposure could lead the germs to become resistant to the medications, making this supposed life-saving treatments non-effective. The Disease Control and Prevention Centers estimate that bacteria that are drug-resistant causes 2 million illnesses and 23, 000 deaths in the United States, each year.
The White House, last week, revealed a five-year plan to strengthen the measures against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the CBS News announced.