The use of sea water as a homemade remedy for infectious conjunctivitis-any cause for alarm?

Abstract

Abstract Aim This study sought to ascertain the usefulness of sea water (SW) in the treatment of infectious conjunctivitis as a homemade medicine. Methods The SW was collected at the sea shore (Gulf of Guinea) in Cape Coast, into a sterile container and kept at 4 °C. This was prepared into different concentrations for assaying in comparison to Normal Saline (NS) and Autoclaved Sea water (AS) which was prepared in the laboratory. The pH, ionic concentration and salinity of SW and NS were determined prior to the antimicrobial assay. Conventional ophthalmic solutions of Chloramphenicol (CH) Gentamycin (Gen), Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and Tobramycin (Tobra) were used as standards for comparison. The antibacterial susceptibility test was performed against the strains of Staphylococcus spp, Bacillus. spp, Corynebacterium spp, Pseudomonas spp, Haemophilus spp and Klebseilla spp. isolated from clinical cases of infectious conjunctivitis. Minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined for all test agents. Results AS, NS and CH showed bacteriostatic activity against all gram positive bacteria with MIC values of 350–560 µg/mL, 36,000 µg/mL and 5000 µg/mL respectively. NS did the same against only Pseudomonas spp. All Gen, Cipro and Tobra revealed bactericidal activity against all bacteria with MIC and (MBC) value of 3000 µg/mL. However, SW showed no antimicrobial effect but rather introduced other additional bacteria upon subculturing. Conclusion The use of SW as a homemade therapy for infectious conjunctivitis is a risky practice, however, when autoclaved could be beneficial against Gram positive bacteria. Alternatively, normal saline could serve the purpose of first aid homemade therapy for infectious conjunctivitis.