Abstract

The present study aimed to determine the major bacterial types from various burn cases and a study of antibacterial activity of plant extracts against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from burn cases in comparison with standard antibiotics.A total of 35 specimens were collected from burned patients (both sex, various degrees of burns) in burns unit of Al-Basrah General Hospital and Alsader Teaching Hospital in Basrah city during October 2006 to August 2007. Aqueous extracts from leaves and fruits of Zizyphus spine christi  L. and Olea europaea L. were used as antibacterial agents against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from burned patients in comparison with standard antibiotics.The predominant bacterial types arePseudomonas sp. (74.19%) (23 isolates) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (54.83%) (17 isolates), another types distributed in various percentages from burn cases. The greatest effect of plant extracts was for 1000 µg/ml of leaves of Z. spain-christi  which gave 20 mm of inhibition zone; the fruit of O. europaea: 1000 Mg/ml gave 16 mm; while the standard antibiotics gave the following diameters of growth inhibition zones: kanamycin and gentamicin (26 mm), neomycin (25 mm), cephalexin (24 mm), fusidic acid (22 mm), tobramycin (16 mm).Various burns are highly infected with diversity of bacterial pathogens, the plant extracts shows a variable activity against S. aureus .

Key words: Staphylococcus aureus, antibiotics, burn cases