In vitro and in vivo Investigations of a Sudanese Honey in the Management of Dermatological Fungal Infections

Abstract

Superficial fungal infections represented 17% of skin diseases in patients attending the outpatient clinic of Khartoum Hospital of Skin and Venereal Diseases. The treatment of these infections usually involves the use of systemic drugs and/or topical well-tried preparations. All of the drugs carry a potential of adverse reactions, besides their relatively high cost.  Honey, which is a natural product of the honeybee, is believed to be active against fungi.  In this study, honey was used as topical treatment for six different clinical syndromes of superficial fungal infections. The study, which was carried out at the outpatient clinic of Khartoum Hospital of Skin and Venereal Diseases, included 360 patients (210 males and 150 females) with skin, hair and nail infections. Patients, diagnosed by clinical examination and direct microscopy (KOH), were given honey to be applied on their lesions twice daily.  Follow-up was made weekly by both clinical and laboratory evaluations.  A complementary follow-up visit after 4 weeks of completion of treatment was needed in order to trace any clinical or mycological changes.  Clinical and mycological cure showed some difference.  Two hundred and sixty patients (72.4%) showed clinical cure associated with hyphal clearance on direct microscopy.  Spores were not affected by honey, a direct cause of high relapse rate (42.3%).  It is concluded that honey had a therapeutic effect on skin and scalp fungal infections but nail infection were not affected.