Abstract

Cough is a common upper respiratory tract condition usually complicated by microbial infections. It is a common public health problem worldwide. Cough mixtures, for which antibacterial activities are rarely indicated are commonly used in cough management. This study investigated the antibacterial activities of some commonly used cough mixtures in South Western Nigeria against different bacterial isolates of clinical importance. The isolates exhibited varied degree of susceptibility to different cough mixtures commonly used in the region. Of all the bacterial isolates, 94.3% were susceptible to both CPS and CCL. 68.8, 45.7 and 31.4% of all the bacterial isolates were correspondingly inhibited by MCL, CNDCS and TCS cough mixtures. The clinical strains were more susceptible than the typed strains and CPS was considered more active than other cough mixtures. Though cough mixtures mainly contain antihistaminic agents, the study shows that most of them have antibacterial activities against Streptococcus species, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Their ability to inhibit the growth of wild and typed bacterial isolates indicates that they can be effective antibacterial agents in upper respiratory tract infections.

Key words: Antihistaminic agents, antibacterial activity, cough mixtures, inhibition zones