Antibiotic‐resistant strains of bacteria such as methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus are a threat to human health, and effective treatment options against them are needed. This study aimed to determine whether the insecticide permethrin was capable of inhibiting the growth of S. aureus or if some other component of a permethrin cream was responsible for a decrease in scabies associated bacterial infection previously observed. Ten S. aureus strains were grown in the presence of permethrin and formaldehyde both alone and in combination with percent inhibition determined by viable counts. Also, a time‐kill assay was conducted on S. aureus exposed to the same conditions. Finally, the morphology of S. aureus grown in the presence of permethrin was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Bacterial inhibition by permethrin ranged from 0% to 41% whereas inhibition by formaldehyde was 100%. The time‐kill curves of permethrin exposed cells were very similar to the positive growth control while the formaldehyde and combination exposure showed complete inhibition even at the 0‐hr time point. The scanning electron micrographs of permethrin grown S. aureus showed healthy cocci cells with no sign of cell damage. Our results show that permethrin is not capable of inhibiting the growth of bacteria enough for it to be termed bactericidal. Formaldehyde is a known antiseptic and therefore was responsible for the antibacterial effect observed after the use of permethrin cream.

中文翻译：

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氯菊酯和甲醛对金黄色葡萄球菌的体外抗菌作用。

耐药菌菌株如耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌对人类健康构成威胁，因此需要针对它们的有效治疗方案。这项研究旨在确定杀虫剂苄氯菊酯是否能够抑制金黄色葡萄球菌的生长，或者苄氯菊酯乳膏的某些其他成分是否可以减少先前观察到的sc疮相关细菌感染。十个金黄色葡萄球菌菌株在苄氯菊酯和甲醛的存在下单独生长，并与通过活菌计数确定的抑制百分数结合生长。另外，对暴露于相同条件下的金黄色葡萄球菌进行了时间杀灭试验。最后，金黄色葡萄球菌的形态通过扫描电子显微镜检查在苄氯菊酯存在下的生长。苄氯菊酯对细菌的抑制率为0％至41％，而甲醛对细菌的抑制率为100％。氯菊酯暴露的细胞的时间杀伤曲线与阳性生长对照非常相似，而甲醛和化合物的暴露即使在0小时的时间点也显示出完全的抑制作用。苄氯菊酯生长的金黄色葡萄球菌的扫描电子显微镜照片显示健康的球菌细胞没有细胞损伤的迹象。我们的结果表明，苄氯菊酯不能充分抑制细菌的生长，因此被称为杀菌剂。甲醛是已知的防腐剂，因此是使用氯菊酯乳膏后观察到的抗菌作用的原因。