Publications by authors named "Emma J Woods"

It is known that pH has a role to play in wound healing. In particular, pH has been shown to affect matrix metalloproteinase activity, tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases activity, fibroblast activity, keratinocyte proliferation, microbial proliferation, and also immunological responses in a wound; the patient's defense mechanisms change the local pH of a wound to effect microorganism invasion and proliferation; this pH change has been found to affect the performance of antimicrobials, and therefore the efficacy in biological environments directly relevant to wound healing. Based on the available body of scientific evidence to date, it is clear that pH has a role to play in both the healing of and treatment of chronic and acute wounds.

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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonises skin, nasal passages and dermal wounds. Methods used to manage wounds infected and colonised with MRSA often include the use of topical antiseptics such as ionic silver and iodine. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of silver-resistance (sil) genes in MRSA and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MR-CNS) isolated from wounds and nasal cavities of humans and animals, and also to determine the susceptibility of sil-positive and sil-negative MRSA isolates to a silver-containing Hydrofiber (SCH) wound dressing, on planktonic silE-positive and silE-negative MRSA.

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To date the effect of silver-containing wound dressings on biofilms, known to be present in chronic wounds, has not been determined or documented. In this current study, we aimed to determine the antimicrobial effect of a silver-containing dressing on biofilms grown in a chambered slide model. Before the addition of a wound dressing onto a 24-hour biofilm, composed of either Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, Staphylococcus aureus, or a mixed bacterial community, a fluorescent dye was applied.

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