Better Luck Next Time: The Tesurrection of Bacteriophage Therapy

Abstract

Summary Bacteriophage therapy, which was a major treatment in the first half of the twentieth century, was largely displaced by antibiotics, which proved more effective. With increased perception of antibiotic resistance amongst bacteria as a significant problem and regulatory pressures for product with minimal environmental consequences, bacteriophages have again become fashionable. Evidence is reviewed that suggests that bacteriophage therapy,when properly understood and applied, can be effective, though formal evidence is limited. However, consideration of the economic case suggests that, at best, bacteriophages will not displace antibiotics are the therapy of choice in the short or medium terms. Conflict of Interest All three authors are employed by Fixed-Phage Ltd. a company which specializes in bacteriophage immobilization. Refe rences 1. Hankin EH (1896) L’action bactericide des eaux de la Jumna et du Gange sur le vibrion du cholera. Ann Inst. Pasteur 10: 5112. Twort FW (1915) An investigation on the nature if ultramicroscopic viruses. Lancet 11: 1241.3. D’Herelle F (1917) Sur un microbe invisible antagoniste des bacillus dysenteriques. C R Acad. Sci (Paris); 165:373-375.4. Bruynoghe R, Maisin J (1921) Essais de therapeutique au moyen dubacteriophage. C R Soc Biol. 85:1120–1121.5. Eaton MD, Bayne-Jones S (1934) Bacteriophage therapy. Review of the principles and results of the use of bacteriophage in the treatment of infections. JAMA. 23:1769–1939.6. Sulakvelidze A, Alavidze Z, Morris J G (2001). Bacteriophage therapy. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 45: 649-659.7. Wommack KE, Hill RT, Kessel M, Russek-Cohen E,Colwell R (1992) Distribution of viruses in Chesapeake Bay Applied and Environmental Microbiology 58: 2965-2970.8. Wihelm S, Suttle CA (1999) Viruses and nutrient cycles in the sea. BioScience 49: 81-788.9. Lanning S, and Williams ST (1982) Methods for the direct isolation and enumeration of actinophages in soil. J Gen Micro128: 2063-2071.