According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the team led by Silvia Würstle at the infectiology department of the University Medical Center Frankfurt discovered viruses that selectively attack multidrug‑resistant bacteria. The bacteriophages used (phages for short) are viruses that infect only bacteria and can kill them while reproducing. Phages are considered a possible treatment approach for infections that no longer respond adequately to conventional antibiotics.
In the now‑approved applications, researchers identified a so‑called broad‑spectrum phage capable of recognizing and infecting multiple strains of a bacterial species. During the “matching” process—the comparison between a phage and a patient’s bacterial strain—FAZ reports a match was found for a patient who has been colonized since childhood with the hospital pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For this patient, whose infection could only be suppressed rather than eradicated by antibiotics, a combined therapy was administered: phage solutions inhaled several times daily together with simultaneous antibiotic treatment to attack the pathogen from several angles.
FAZ says the appropriate broad‑spectrum phage was found in samples from the Main river. A doctoral researcher placed Main river water onto Petri dishes with cultured Pseudomonas; Würstle reports that a phage‑typical pattern of clear plaques—holes in the bacterial lawn—was visible. Over several weeks the phage was isolated from the water and prepared for treatment.
During the inpatient treatment, the patient reported severe headaches and a mild fever on the evening of the second day; otherwise no further acute complaints occurred. Sputum from the lower lung could be coughed up, and slightly elevated liver values suggested, FAZ reports, that bacteria were being broken down in greater numbers. Whether the pathogen was permanently contained or further therapies will be necessary is to be determined in follow‑up discussions in the coming weeks.
Würstle reports satisfaction with the short‑term effects observed in the treated patient but tempers expectations: a suitable phage cannot be found for every resistant germ, the search is time‑consuming, and production is currently expensive. She explicitly warns against uncontrolled self‑administration. Commercial providers offer phage cocktails on the assumption that an effective phage may be included, but such mixtures have sometimes produced questionable outcomes. In some patients, rapid destruction of many bacteria led to large amounts of cellular debris that had to be cleared; in isolated cases this caused heavy mucus production and breathing difficulties, Würstle reports.
FAZ states that the procedure in Frankfurt represents an early clinical use of phages in Germany. The researchers emphasize that
Source: www.faz.net
