While Manuka honey in vitro is strongly antimicrobial, there have been, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies showing that dressings impregnated with Manuka honey can kill organ- isms in the dressing itself. Materials and Methods. The investigators used the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists’ 100 test methodology to compare honey-impregnated dressings with control dressings (without honey) on the ability to kill common wound pathogens. 

Organisms were chosen after a review of the causal organisms found in actual wound infections over a 12-month period in a busy out- patient wound clinic. Results. Even when the dressings were challenged daily with further inoculated organisms, > 5-log reductions were routinely noted across a range of pathogens, including multiple drug-resistant species using dressings containing Manuka honey relative to the control. Conclusions. The results presented herein show that when well characterized medical-grade Manuka honey is used in dressings (ie, a mini- mum of 400 mg methylglyoxal/kg) these dressings can comprehensively kill common wound pathogens associated with infected wounds.