Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activities of Natural Herbs against Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Pus from Scabies

Introduction: Mite Sarcoptes scabiei causes scabies which is a communicable skin infection and it promotes a suitable niche for microorganisms for their growth and development to cause secondary infection. This study was conducted to isolate the prevalent microorganisms collected from the pus of volunteers having scabies only, as well as to detect MRSA strains to study the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of Allium sativum bulbs, Olea europaea, Piper nigrum extracts against these strains. Materials and Methods: Pus samples were collected from 50 volunteers having scabies only and antibiotic susceptibility of the prevalent microorganisms as well as biofilm assay for MRSA isolates were also tested. Ethanolic extracts of Allium sativum bulbs, Olea europaea leaves, Piper nigrum berries were prepared and their antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities were determined. Results: out of 290, 65% (189) of them are confirmed as Staphylococcus aureus and 47 of these Staphylococcus aureus isolates were found to be resistant for Methicillin. On the other hand, in the present study Allium sativum bulbs and extracts of leaves of Olea europaea had potent antimicrobial activity against the MRSA strains isolated from the scabies while Piper nigrum extract had least amount of antimicrobial activity. Present study also revealed that extracts of Allium sativum bulbs possessed more antimicrobial property than the leaf extract of Olea europaea against the said strains. Conclusion: It can be concluded that MRSA strains harbouring volunteers with scabies may act as the reservoir for secondary infection and Allium sativum bulbs are more effective against the said strain than the Olea europaea and Piper nigrum extracts.