Scientists Address Superbug Resistance With Phage Therapy

Article

International research involving a Monash University biologist shows that bacteriophage therapy -- a process whereby bacterial viruses attack and destroy specific strains of bacteria -- can be used successfully to treat systemic, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

The latest research, published in Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapeutics has wide implications for antibiotic resistance, which the World Health Organization has described as a major threat to public health.

One of the study's authors, Dr. Jeremy Barr from the Monash School of Biological Sciences, said that antibiotics can no longer be solely relied upon to halt the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

"Last year we saw a patient die in the U.S. from a bacterial infection resistant to all antibiotics. 'Pan-resistant' strains of bacterial infection are inevitable," Barr said.

Barr's lab at Monash University studies bacteriophage -- specialist viruses that only infect and kill bacteria -- and investigates their role and function in the human body.

Bacteriophage (or phage for short) are the most abundant and diverse microbe found in the body. Phages control and manipulate bacterial populations, prevent infection and disease and have important roles in regulating the microbiome and body that have not yet been fully elucidated.

The latest research, published in the prestigious Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapeutics, follows the remarkable case of a 69-year-old diabetic in the US who was treated successfully with bacteriophages after being infected with a life-threatening multidrug-resistant strain of Acinetobacter baumannii.

The study is significant because it is the first time bacteriophage therapy has been used in the U.S. to treat a patient who had an antibiotic-resistant, blood stream infection.

"Antibiotics were no longer working, and this infection would have very likely killed him had we not intervened."

The study was led by Dr. Robert Schooley from the University of California San Diego.

Source: Monash University

Recent Videos
Kevin Anderson, MBA, BS, CRCST, Senior Manager, Commercial Education Services, Heatlthmark, a Getinge Company
Damien Berg, BA, BS, CRCST, AAMIF, is the vice president of strategic initiatives for the HSPA.
Annet Adegboyega, DNP, MSN, BSN, RN, CNOR; Mihyun "Rose" Jang, MSN, MPH, BSN, RN, CNOR; and Renilda Tijones, MSN, BSN, RN, CNOR.
Roundtable of Vet IPs (Adobe Stock)
APIC 2025 President Carol McLay, DrPH, MPH, RN, CIC FAPIC   (Image credit: APIC)
Paulo J. M. Brois, DVM, MSN, RN; Luisa M. P. Soares, RN; and Teresa A. Santos, RN, at #AORN2025
Michael Sinnott, MBBS, FACEM, FRACP, at 2025 AORN Global Conference & Expo.
Roundtable of Vet IPs
Meet Marjorie Wall, EDBA, CRCST, CIS, CHL, CSSBB.
Related Content