The Uppsala University Hospital has become the first hospital in Sweden to use bacteriophages, viruses that devour bacteria, as a novel treatment against inflammation, the national broadcaster SVT reported.
This method can replace laborious operations and save patients months of antibiotic treatment.
As of now, the method is used to treat prosthetic joint infections, a complication that occurs after a knee or hip joint operation.
Each year, up to 20,000 hip prostheses and 16,000 knee prostheses are installed in Sweden, often because the joint has worn out.
Most often, the procedure is successful, Nils Hailer, a professor of orthopedics at Uppsala University Hospital, explained. However, in up to 2 percent of cases complications arise in the form of infection around the prosthesis.
Those affected are often generally ill with several diagnoses, but increasing age and obesity are also seen as risk factors. The complications can lead to pain and general malaise with fever and chills. Furthermore, an abscess may form over the area, which in the worst case bursts.
“It is a terrible complication and treatment is very difficult,” Hailer told SVT. “It is therefore very important that we get more tools to treat this condition,” he added.
The prostheses are inserted in such a way that they are notoriously difficult to remove and the operations can therefore take several hours and lead to the loss of several liters of blood.
“We are reasonably good at treating this complication, but there is a certain percentage of up two percent of patients that we cannot cure with today's means,” Hailer concluded, stressing the importance of bacteriophage treatment.
“It is a terrible complication and treatment is very difficult,” Hailer told SVT. “It is therefore very important that we get more tools to treat this condition,” he added.
The prostheses are inserted in such a way that they are notoriously difficult to remove and the operations can therefore take several hours and lead to the loss of several liters of blood.
“We are reasonably good at treating this complication, but there is a certain percentage of up two percent of patients that we cannot cure with today's means,” Hailer concluded, stressing the importance of bacteriophage treatment.
Phages have been used as an alternative to antibiotics in the Soviet Union since the Twenties to tackle bacterial infections, including treatment of soldiers in the Red Army. In the West, by contrast, they were long abandoned for general use, as antibiotics were marketed widely and were seen as easier to make, store, and prescribe.
Today, however, they are seen as a possible therapy against multi-drug-resistant strains of many bacteria. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared antimicrobial resistance a global health crisis. Since phages can target bacteria while leaving human cells intact, they are making a comeback.
Furthermore, phages-based medicines are seen as advantageous as they are cheap, lack side-effects, and don't damage internal organs or gut flora.