Phagotherapy, which relies on old viruses to eliminate bacteria, could offer a response to antibiotic resistance.
Considering antibiotics as miracle remedies belongs to the past. Their efficiency collapses in the face of increasingly resistant bacteria. But, rather than returning to grandmother’s remedies, the WHO is now on phagotherapy.
Antibiotic resistance causes 1.27 million deaths per year
Resistance to antibiotics is Among the greatest threats to public health global. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it directly causes 1.27 million deaths each year. Without decisive action, this figure could climb to 10 million by 2050.
In 2019, antibiotic resistance contributed to nearly 5 million dead. The World Bank believes that, by 2050, it could generate up to $ 1,000 billion in health costs.
And for good reason, bacteria formerly sensitive to treatments like penicillin today develop Defense mechanisms. Current infections, such as pneumonia, become more and more difficult, even impossible, to be treated.
This crisis goes beyond borders. Contrary to popular belief, antibiotic resistance strongly affect developed countries.
The excessive use of these treatments promotes the rapid evolution of bacteria. Their wide action spectrum also disrupts the intestinal floracausing frequent side effects, including digestive disorders.
Bacteriophages with rescue
Bacteriophages, or phages, are virus that only attack bacteria. Discovered at the beginning of the 20th century by the microbiologist Félix of Hérelle, these natural predators of bacteria offer a track in the face of antibiotic resistance.
A phage attaches to the surface of a bacteria, injects its genetic material there, then diverts its cell machinery to reproduce. This process generally leads to Destruction of the host bacteria.
Unlike antibiotics, which act in a broad and not targeted way, the phages show a formidable. They don’tattack that a specific bacterial strainwithout harming the other microorganisms present in the body.
Clinical cases in the United Kingdom have demonstrated the effectiveness of phagotherapy to treat infections resistant to all available antibiotics. But this precision implies a fine knowledge of the bacteria to be eliminated.
Virus a mutation
The bacteria do not remain passive against the phages. Over the billions of years, they have developed complex mechanisms to defend themselves.
One of them, named Kiwa, acts as a sensor integrated into the bacterial membrane. He blocks the replication of the virus Before he wreaked havoc.
But the phages retain a clear evolutionary advantage. Their capacity to mutate quickly allows them to Get around these defenses.
Some phages modify their attachment proteins to escape detection systems like Kiwa. Conversely, the development of new antibiotics remains slow, expensive and unprofitable.
However, identifying the phage adapted to each bacteria requires time, expertise and resources. Phagotherapy also suffers from a lack of regulatory recognition in many countries.
In Western Europe, it remains reserved for so -called compassionate cases. Conversely, Georgia and Russia have been using it for several decades.
Finally, the Phages cannot be patenteda major brake for pharmaceutical investments. And yet, faced with resistance to antibiotics, their potential has never been so crucial.
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