3 ms·

What about bacteriophages?

• candiodari 9y ago
  Those are viruses, and as a rule there are no generic drugs that directly act against large classes of viruses. In most cases, with viral infection symptomatic treatment is the only option available.
  • cfadvan 9y ago
    I think they’re asking if bacteriophage therapy could replace antibiotic therapy? The answer is no, because you require a specific phage to treat a specific bacterial species, and since phases don’t tend to naturally infect us, it’s hard to get the phases to where the bacteria are. Phage therapy can work for something like strep throat, when you can literally rinse your throat with a solution containing phases, but basically useless for something like bone or blood infections.
    • tzahola 9y ago
      How about an IV phage cocktail? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26691737/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26691737/
    • dayofthedaleks 9y ago
      I know it's some ways off, but I like to think we eventually will be able to create bespoke bacteriophages via genemods, tailored both to the patient's genome profile and the infection at hand. All the exciting cancer stuff right now seems to be on-demand, and techniques spread over time.
  • Luc 9y ago
    The idea is to use them instead of antibiotics. Phage therapy.