The use of 5% tea tree oil for the prevention of infections in renal dialysis patients

"Golden staph" is carried in the noses of 20-50% of people at any given time. People who are having renal dialysis and who carry 'golden staph' in their nose are at a higher risk of infection than those who do not. To minimise this risk renal dialysis patients are given prolonged treatment with mupirocin cream which is applied in their nostrils to kill 'golden staph'. This has lead to resistant strains of 'golden staph' that are not killed by the mupirocin treatment. Tea tree oil ointment has been used to kill 'golden staph' in people's noses and prolonged exposure to tea tree oil has not lead to development of resistance in bacteria. It also kills a wide range of bacteria and fungi, not just 'golden staph and so we believe that tea tree oil would be at least as good as mupirocin at protecting renal patients from infection. So this trial is looking at the use of tea tree oil and comparing it to the use of mupirocin in protecting renal dialysis patients from infection with 'golden staph'.