Needs to be changed only once a week
South African pharmaceutical company, Cipla Medpro, in conjunction with the Microbiology Department at the University of Stellenbosch, has announced the development of what is being touted as a breakthrough in wound dressing.
The team behind the Wound Dressing Project recently received a prestigious NSTF-BHP Billiton Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Contribution to SETI through Research leading to Innovation. Team leader, Professor Leon Dicks – Department of Microbiology, University of Stellenbosch – describes the product as a nanofibre wound dressing with controlled release of antimicrobial peptides for patients with burn wounds.
Dicks developed the wound dressing by incorporating broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptides into nanofibres. According to Dicks, the dressing releases the antimicrobial peptides in a slow and controlled manner and needs to be changed only once a week. “This is ideal in the treatment of burn wound infections. By altering the nanofibres, the dressing becomes part of the new skin and supports the healing process. This innovation stemmed from years of research on antimicrobial peptides produced by lactic acid bacteria.”
