Last Help: Phage Therapy?

For 100 Years, a Successful Alternative to Conventional Antibiotic Treatments

Paul Enders

• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783752604689
• eBook ISBN:
  9783749418916
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: General Health

When the first antibiotic was discovered, it revolutionized medicine, and in many ways, the world. Illnesses that had previously decimated countless suddenly had a treatment, and those antibiotics were used judiciously - and have been ever since. Our Modern Medicine is so inundated with antibiotics that the bacteria and micro-organisms they were first created to destroy have found their own defense, a resistance to these duper drugs that have made them super bugs... and we need a way to fight back.While many look to the future creation of new, stronger antibiotics, the answer may very well lie in our own medical past. In 1915, two enterprising scientists discovered that bacteriophages were present in the stools and bodies of sick patients right before they began to recover. When they found that bacteriophages were also present wherever bacteria grew, it prompted a new line of thought - and the formation of Phage Therapy.This insightful and scientifically accurate book takes us on a journey 100 + years in the making, from the very beginnings of Phage Therapy, through its many varieties and applications and then on to the future of this medical practice - and how the medical breakthrough we have all been waiting for may have already happened.

Uses of bacteriophages or phage therapy

(Samples)

Intestinal diseases

In the digestive tract, trillions of microorganisms arrive on a daily basis, which forms a natural ecosystem, called the intestinal microflora. Every day our body needs to maintain a certain balance of microorganisms. The presence of bacteriophages is a key component of the intestinal mucosa, which plays a crucial role in stabilizing the microbial balance. Bacteriophages are viruses that are everywhere and live in bacteria. They, like other viruses, have their genetic material enclosed in a protein coat. They are divided into groups that have certain characteristics and, within these groups, there are hundreds of different subtypes. Many experts believe that phages can be a good tool in the fight against pathogens and drug-resistant strains of bacteria. Bacteriophages are present when there are bacteria because they depend on them.

Scientists have evidence that bacteriophages in animals and humans kill unwanted bacteria colonies and control the structure of the colonies of friendly microorganisms in the body. A major role for their existence is the mucus layer. It forms in the intestine, an original habitat. It has been suggested that humans and animals have adapted to the specific phages, and this gives them an advantage in the struggle for survival against certain bacteria. It is proven that sometimes phages enter their genetic material into the friendly bacteria without killing them. This allows the bacteria to have a unique advantage to protect against attacks of other types of bacteriophages. Patients with irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and some other diseases are likely to have serious problems with the intestinal microflora.

Diseases of Respiratory tract

Acute purulent-inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract is one of the most frequent reasons for patients to visit general practitioners and otolaryngolo-gists. The incidence of rhinosinusitis, tonsillitis, and otitis especially increases in the autumn-winter period and are closely associated with an increased incidence of acute respiratory viral infections in children and adults. Diseases of the upper respiratory tract of viral etiology are often accompanied by the activation of conditionally pathogenic microflora and colonization of the respiratory tract by pathogenic bacteria. This leads to the development of purulent diseases of the upper respiratory tract.

Moreover, inflammation may be a bacterial complication of a viral infection, but sometimes bacterial infections can accompany from the beginning. Thus, in children, the importance of etiologic viral and bacterial associations are observed at 25-30% of acute respiratory diseases. This significantly increases the incidence of chronic suppurative rhinosinusitis in recent years. The alleged reasons for this are the changes in the nature of the immune response at the local and systemic levels. To adequately treat and prevent the transition of inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract, one needs to identify the pathogen and employ timely use of effective isotropic drugs with antibacterial activity.

For many decades, chemotherapeutic antibiotics and synthetic drugs with antimicrobial activity have been successfully used for this purpose. However, all of the antibiotics come with the problem of antibiotic resistance to date. New strains of bacteria are formed much faster than the creation of new antibacterial drugs. This contributes to the total use of antibiotics in practice and is not always justified by the appointment of antimicrobial agents by physicians of different specialties. This can be the base of the problem for the development of antibiotic resistance by bacteria.

Moreover, there are economic losses due to the emergence of various forms of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. There are tens and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on it. For example, in EU countries, at least 1.5 billion Euros per year is spent.

The most important roles in the development of bacterial infections of the upper respiratory tract are played by Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., haemophilus influenzae, moraxella catarrhalisi and number of other pathogenic strains of bacteria. The most serious threat to health, from a clinical and epidemiological point of view, is methi-cillin-resistance by staphylococcus aureus and pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Over the past decade, the resistance of these bacteria to macrolides and penicillin, which are traditionally and widely used in otolaryngology, has grown significantly. In addition, in recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of bacteria that produce β-lactamase extended-spectrum, due to the extensive use of in-patient and out-patient practice of cephalosporins of the first, second and third generation.

In addition, the spread of antibiotic resistance in pathogens of upper respiratory tract disease is a particular problem and raising the incidence of allergic reactions to the administration of antibacterial agents.

Therefore, to date, of special importance is the use of a complementary and effective means of low allergenic potential, allowing the destruction of multi-resistant bacteria. One promising solution to this problem is to expand the use of bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are viruses, which can eliminate bacteria. In the presence of sensitivity to them, are many the bacterial strains; they penetrate into the bacteria, multiply and eventually destroy them. After lysis of the bacteria, phage particles are again ready for action. Phages are specific; unlike antibiotics, they cause the death of only a certain species of bacteria, without inhibiting the patient's normal microflora. Phage pharmacokinetics studies carried out on laboratory animals indicate that phages, with any method of administration, enter the bloodstream, where they are rapidly adsorbed by various tissues. Most often they are found in lymph nodes, spleen, liver, and kidneys.

Since the presence of microbes in the body of the corresponding phages actively proliferate, the duration of their stay in the body increases and depends on the presence of phage sensitive pathogen infection, which can occur even while increasing the titer of the bacteriophage. The average length of stay of bacteriophages in the human body is about 5-6 days. Sometimes this term is increased or decreased.

The range of methods for use of therapeutic phages are very wide. The methods include not only the application to the site of the lesion, but also oral, subcutaneous, intramuscular, rectal and intraperitoneal routes of administration; as well as the effective use of drugs in the form of aerosols and enemas.

The difference between antibiotics and Bacteriophages:

Phages, as well as all other microorganisms, are capable of changing their properties, shape and size of the colonies. They have the ability to be adsorbed on the microbial cell, the spectrum of lytic effect, and show resistance to external influences.

In turn, the bacteria may acquire resistance to individual phages. However, to date, due to the low prevalence of bacteriophage therapy, this problem is not as acute as in the case of conventional antibacterial agents.

According to modern concepts, antibiotics should not be used for the prevention of chronic inflammatory diseases of ENT organs. This is due to their low effic...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Limitations and exclusions of liability
• Exceptions
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• History of Phage Therapy
• When antibiotics are powerless
• Phage morphology
• Different types of phages
• Practical applications of bacteriophages
• Advantages of bacteriophage preparations
• Pros and Cons of Bacteriophages
• Uses of bacteriophages or phage therapy
• Phage therapy an alternative to antibiotics
• The resistance of microorganisms and ways to overcome it
• Copyright