THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ACETIC-ACID AND BUROWS SOLUTION AS TOPICAL OTOLOGICAL PREPARATIONS

At present there are no topical otological preparations on the World H ealth Organisation's essential drug list, largely due to the ototoxic potential of preparations containing aminoglycoside antibiotics. Aceti c acid and Burow's solution have long been used in the treatment of th e discharging ear. The aim of this study was to ascertain the antibact erial activity of these two preparations against the most commonly occ urring bacteria isolated from discharging ears in our department. Twen ty fresh isolates of each of the following organisms - Pseudomonas aer uginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Streptococcus py ogenes - were plated onto blood agar and tested against one per cent, two per cent and three per cent acetic acid and Burow's solution (13 p er cent aluminium acetate). The activity of each agent was ascertained by the size of the zone of inhibition of bacterial growth. Burow's so lution showed significantly larger average zones of inhibition than ac etic acid (p < 0.001). The two per cent and three per cent acetic acid as well as the Burow's solution were active against all the organisms tested.