The Need for Anti-Infective Agents
The emergence of antibiotic resistance in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive
bacteria is on the increase, and in spite of attempts to control the use of antibiotics,
the incidence of resistance threatens to overwhelm modern health care systems
[14]. Several risk factors have been implicated as causal factors of antibiotic resis-
tance, for example the irresponsible use of antibiotics, and antibiotics used as pro-
phylactics in food production. There is an increasing need for new antibiotic
agents to treat the multidrug-resistant pathogens that are frequently encountered
both in hospitals and in the community. This worrying situation is reflected in the
drug resistance encountered against disease-causing helminth and protozoan par-
asites of humans and animals worldwide.
In southern African countries rural populations, particularly children, common-
ly suffer from diarrhea, gastrointestinal parasites, and bilharzia [14]. The expense
of orthodox medicines and the frequent lack of easy access to Western health care
facilities encourages the use of traditional healers in rural regions. African tradi-
tional healers have a holistic approach and treat the putative cause of the ailment
as well as the symptoms of the disease. Treatment often has a major psychological
component involving ancestral spirits. Research on the efficacy and potential toxic-
ity of medicinal plants used to combat infectious diseases may lead to interesting
leads for new plant extracts or isolated compounds with antibacterial activity.
Selection of Plant Species to Investigate
The choice of plant selection method for phytochemical and biological activity
screening is often difficult. The abundance of plants available to researchers in
South Africa lends support to a rational, methodical approach that will supply the
greatest potential for discovery of interesting, biologically active chemicals. There
100 5 Plant Extracts Used to Manage Bacterial, Fungal, and Parasitic Infections in Southern Africa
are three main methods of plant selection with the aim of isolating and identifying
active substances, namely the ethnobotanical, chemotaxonomic, and random se-
lection approaches.
The emergence of antibiotic resistance in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive
bacteria is on the increase, and in spite of attempts to control the use of antibiotics,
the incidence of resistance threatens to overwhelm modern health care systems
[14]. Several risk factors have been implicated as causal factors of antibiotic resis-
tance, for example the irresponsible use of antibiotics, and antibiotics used as pro-
phylactics in food production. There is an increasing need for new antibiotic
agents to treat the multidrug-resistant pathogens that are frequently encountered
both in hospitals and in the community. This worrying situation is reflected in the
drug resistance encountered against disease-causing helminth and protozoan par-
asites of humans and animals worldwide.
In southern African countries rural populations, particularly children, common-
ly suffer from diarrhea, gastrointestinal parasites, and bilharzia [14]. The expense
of orthodox medicines and the frequent lack of easy access to Western health care
facilities encourages the use of traditional healers in rural regions. African tradi-
tional healers have a holistic approach and treat the putative cause of the ailment
as well as the symptoms of the disease. Treatment often has a major psychological
component involving ancestral spirits. Research on the efficacy and potential toxic-
ity of medicinal plants used to combat infectious diseases may lead to interesting
leads for new plant extracts or isolated compounds with antibacterial activity.
Selection of Plant Species to Investigate
The choice of plant selection method for phytochemical and biological activity
screening is often difficult. The abundance of plants available to researchers in
South Africa lends support to a rational, methodical approach that will supply the
greatest potential for discovery of interesting, biologically active chemicals. There
100 5 Plant Extracts Used to Manage Bacterial, Fungal, and Parasitic Infections in Southern Africa
are three main methods of plant selection with the aim of isolating and identifying
active substances, namely the ethnobotanical, chemotaxonomic, and random se-
lection approaches.
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