How Bacteria-Eating Viruses Can Save Millions Of Lives

One such case, in which phage therapy is being used, is that of a Belgian woman who developed a life-threatening disease after being injured in the 2016 Brussels airport bombing.

New Delhi: The novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2 has claimed millions of lives in over two years. Can you imagine viruses in this world which could save millions of lives?

Well, bacteriophages or bacteria-eating viruses can, and are being used on some of the most difficult medical cases. 

Phage Therapy Used On A Belgian Woman

One such case, in which phage therapy is being used, is that of a Belgian woman who developed a life-threatening disease after being injured in the 2016 Brussels airport bombing, news agency AFP reported. Phage therapy, or phagotherapy, is the therapeutic use of bacteriophages for the treatment of pathogenic bacterial infections. 

A battle is said to be going on between antibiotic resistant bacteria and "friendly" viruses in a Petri dish in a laboratory in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, according to an AFP report. 

The country is conducting research on a ground-breaking way to tackle the danger of bacteria becoming antibiotic-resistant. 

The bacteriophages sent from Tbilisi reportedly cured the Belgian woman's infection in three months, who had been undergoing an unsuccessful antibiotic treatment for two years.

When Are Bacteriophages Used To Kill Harmful Bacteria?

Quoting Mzia Kutateladze of the Eliva Institute of Bacteriophages, the report said that the institute uses those phages that kill harmful bacteria to cure patients when antibiotics fail.

She said even a banal infection (ordinary or common infection) can "kill a patient because the pathogen has developed resistance to antibiotics.".

She added that phagotherapy "is one of the best alternatives" in such cases. 

In the 1930s, antibiotics revolutionised medicine, following which phages, which had been known for about a century, were largely forgotten. 

History Of Bacteriophages

Georgian scientist Giorgi Eliava was the man who did most to develop phages. He was executed in 1937 on the orders of another Georgian, Lavrentiy Beria, who was Stalin's henchman and the head of his secret police, the report said.

Eliava, who had worked in the Pasteur Institute in Paris with French-Canadian microbiologist Felix d'Herelle, persuaded Stalin to invite him to Tbilisi in 1934. Felix d'Herelle was one of the two men credited with the discovery of phages.

However, it is said that Beria had Eliava killed, following which the collaboration of the Georgian scientist and the French-Canadian microbiologist was cut short. 

Why Is Phage Therapy Making A Comeback?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared antimicrobial resistance a global health crisis. Since phages can target bacteria while leaving human cells intact, they are making a comeback.

According to a recent study, superbugs could kill as many as 10 million people a year when antimicrobial resistance due to overuse of antibiotics reaches a tipping point. This could become a reality within three decades, the report said.

What Are The Advantages Of Phage-Based Medicines?

According to researchers, phages-based medicines are advantageous as they are cheap, do not have side-effects, and do not damage organs or gut flora. 

Lia Nadareishvili, a physician at Eliava Institute, said the institute produces six standard phages that are of wide spectrum and can heal multiple infectious diseases.

However, standard phages do not work in some 10 to 15 per cent of patients, the report said.

Nadareishvili added that in such a case, they need to find ones capable of killing the particular bacterial strain.

The institute has the world's richest collection of tailored phages, which can be selected to target rare infections. Phages can also be found in sewage or polluted water or oil, Kutateladze said. 

She further said that the institute can even "train" phages so that "they can kill more and more different harmful bacteria", according to the report.

She added that it is a cheap and easily accessible therapy.

Phage Therapy As A Last-Resort Treatment

According to the report, a 34-year-old American mechanical engineer, who was suffering from a chronic bacterial disease for six years, had received treatment at the Tbilisi Institute.

The engineer, whose name is Andrew, said he "already felt improvement" after two weeks at the institute. 

He also said that he tried every possible treatment in the United States.

Nadareishvili said that Andrew is one of the hundreds of patients from around the globe who arrive in Georgia every year for last-resort treatment, according to the report.

Kutateladze said that more clinical studies are required so that phagotherapy can be more widely approved. This is because the traditional antimicrobial armoury is depleting rapidly. 

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised a clinical study on the use of bacteriophages to cure secondary infections in Covid-19 patients, in the year 2019. 

Benefits Of Bacteriophages Beyond Medicine

Kutateladze said that phages provide several benefits beyond medicine. For instance, phages can be used in agriculture to protect crops and animals from harmful bacteria, she said.

The Eliava Institute had already conducted research on bacteria targeting cotton and rice, the report said.

In 2017, Canadian researchers had published a study on using bacteriophages to counter an anthrax attack on crowded places. This implies that bacteriophages have the potential to counter biological weapons and combat bioterrorism.