and Antimicrobial Activity of (DC.) Stapf. Against spp. Isolated from Newborn Babies in an Intensive Care Unit.

Phytotherapy is an emerging topic of health research, with particular focus on studying the efficiency of essential oils as antimicrobials. In this study, we investigated the and susceptibility of strains isolated from newborns to oil. The susceptibility of the microorganisms to essential oil was compared with the activities of standard antibiotics administered to newborns using disk diffusion and microdilution methods. For assessment, 30 Wistar rats were wounded and subjected to infection of strain DRJ080, followed by treatment with the antibiotic vancomycin, , or carbopol polymer gel (control) for 11 days. accounted for 23.36% of the 107 sp. strains isolated. Both vancomycin and the essential oil of inhibited the growth of all microorganisms . The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations for the oil were 0.625 mg/mL in all strains tested. The oil had the same therapeutic effectiveness as vancomycin against DRJ080 in rats. Thus, strains of newborns are sensitive to oil, both and , demonstrating its potential as an antibiotic alternative.