An antibacterial wound gel produced by Australian company Medihoney is outperforming standard methods of preventing infection in juvenile burns victims, a leading international burns expert said today.

Head of Paediatric Surgery for the past 25 years at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Capetown, South Africa, Professor Heinz Rode, said today he had been so impressed by the efficacy of samples of Medihoney’s Antibacterial Wound Gel used to treat three badly burned small children in Capetown, that he had applied to Capetown University’s Ethics Committee to run a randomised trial with a group of 80 children aged between one and 12 years.

In Brisbane for the Asian Pacific Burns Association Congress, Professor Rode said he had become aware of Medihoney’s gel and asked for samples which he then used on three children with severe chronic scalp infections from burns which were problematic and not responding to the standard treatment of Silver Sulphadiazine (SSD).

“SSD did not work and healing was compromised by infections on the children’s scalps. The infections had become resistant to current antiseptics we were using but when we utilised the daily application of Medihoney, we noted that, within a week, the wounds were completely changed in clinical nature and the severe illness caused by overwhelming infection of the bloodstream disappeared.

“In fact, the resistant infection was eradicated within a few days, the wounds looked better and the infections were clearing so the children could then undergo skin grafts,” he said.

Professor Rode said that at this hospital alone, between 700 and 1000 children under the age of 12 were treated for severe burns each year with about 80 percent the result of scalding and the rest from fire, electricity and chemicals.

“We need a high quality, cost-effective antiseptic product that allows for more rapid healing, less scarring, less time spent in hospital and fewer skin grafts.

“If, as we anticipate, the trials mimic the small sample study, then Medihoney will become the standard treatment for infection in all burns units,” he said.

Medihoney Chief Executive Anthony Moloney said the international trial had broad implications for the Antibacterial Wound Gel.

“We have extensively tested this gel and are convinced of its effectiveness in treating infection. If our findings are endorsed by an independent randomised trial, the result will be distribution of the gel worldwide, particularly to developing countries where poor socio-economic circumstances and makeshift cooking method frequently result in severe burns particularly in young children.

“For Medihoney to play a major role in alleviating suffering from burns is a positive result of our research and development role,” Mr Moloney said.

Medihoney Antibacterial Wound Gel has been under development for more than two years and will shortly be available nationally.