Can bacteriophages be used to treat bacterial infections?

Bacteriophages (BPs) are viruses that can infect and kill bacteria without any negative effect on human or animal cells. For this reason, it is supposed that they can be used, alone or in combination with antibiotics, to treat bacterial infections.

How might a bacteriophage a virus that infects bacteria be used to treat bacterial infections in humans?

Bacteriophages kill bacteria by making them burst or lyse. This happens when the virus binds to the bacteria. A virus infects the bacteria by injecting its genes (DNA or RNA). The phage virus copies itself (reproduces) inside the bacteria.

Why are bacteriophages better than antibiotics?

Compared to antibiotics, only a single phage is required to kill a single bacterium and so fewer units are required per treatment. Phages also do not dissociate from bacterial targets once irreversibly adsorbed. However, multiple phages may adsorb to individual bacteria.

How could bacteriophages be used in medicine?

Phage therapy, viral phage therapy, or phagotherapy is the therapeutic use of bacteriophages to treat pathogenic bacterial infections. Bacteriophages, known as phages, are a form of virus. Phages attach to bacterial cells, and inject a viral genome into the cell.

What is the role of bacteriophage in viral infection?

A bacteriophage attaches itself to a susceptible bacterium and infects the host cell. Following infection, the bacteriophage hijacks the bacterium’s cellular machinery to prevent it from producing bacterial components and instead forces the cell to produce viral components.

How does a bacteriophage infect bacteria?

To infect bacteria, most bacteriophages employ a ‘tail’ that stabs and pierces the bacterium’s membrane to allow the virus’s genetic material to pass through. The most sophisticated tails consist of a contractile sheath surrounding a tube akin to a stretched coil spring at the nanoscale.

Which disease can be cured by bacteriophages?

To give but a few examples, phages have been reported to be effective in treating staphylococcal lung infections (22, 33), P. aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis patients (50), eye infections (43), neonatal sepsis (38), urinary tract infections (40), and surgical wound infections (39, 41).

How effective are bacteriophages?

The efficacy of phage treatment was 92\% (marked clinical improvements) and 84\% (bacteriological clearance). Phages administered subcutaneously or through surgical drains in 236 patients having antibiotic-resistant infections eliminated the infections in 92\% of the patients.

How are bacteriophages useful to humans?

Are Bacteriophages Useful for Us? Yes, they are. We can use bacteriophages to kill bad bacteria in a way that is similar to the way we use antibiotics [2]. Moreover, bacteriophages have some advantages compared with antibiotics.