Microbiological risk characterization of select complementary alternative therapies for dengue fever in the Philippines
Paper Details
Microbiological risk characterization of select complementary alternative therapies for dengue fever in the Philippines
Abstract
Dengue fever causes mortality and morbidity across the world and in the Philippines, there is widespread use of herbal-based medicines and medicinal plants to treat this infection. The research study was primarily undertaken to conduct a general microbiological evaluation of the local complementary alternative therapies (CAT) for dengue fever, in order to determine its safety for human use and consumption. A preliminary question-based survey was conducted to assess the awareness and the commonly practiced CAT of the study population. 63% of the population reported to be aware of the potential of herbal plants for supplementary therapy particularly against dengue-induced thrombocytopenia. The general safety of three most commonly used herbal plants, Euphorbia hirta, Carica papaya and Ipomea batatas, (in forms of decoction and infusion) were assessed through employing heterotrophic plate counts (HPC) and antimicrobial screening. HPC evaluation showed varied levels of contamination ranging from >1000 to 3.0 x 102 CFU/ml, which could be attributed to unstandardized preparation procedures. All decoctions and infusions exhibited negative antimicrobial properties against Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus , hence, is advantageous as orally administered therapies must contain diminutive amount of antibacterial activity property in the intention that it will not invade other normal human cells except for transient and pathogenic bacterial cells.
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Lucilyn Maratas, Dana Joanne Von Trono, 2018. Microbiological risk characterization of select complementary alternative therapies for dengue fever in the Philippines. J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 12(2), 32-39.
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