A wound dressing comprising acylated chitosan fibre has a wet strength of 0.3 N/cm or above. The acylated chitosan fibre may have a degree of substitution of 0.10-0.50. The acylated chitosan fibre may preferably have a degree of substitution of 0.20-0.40. The dressing may have an absorbency of 5-25g/g of a solution containing 8.298g/l of sodium chloride and 0.368 g/I of calcium chloride dehydrate as measured by BS EN 13726-1 2002 Part 1 Aspects of Absorbency. The base material of the dressing may be chitosan fibre that has been chemically modified through an acylation process using anhydride and ethanol as the solvent. A method of manufacturing the wound dressing involves reacting chitosan fibre with anhydride and making acylated chitosan felt through a nonwoven process, and through cutting, packing and sterilizing processes.
