Phage Therapy: What Have We Learned?

In this article we explain how current events in the field of phage therapy may positively influence its future development. We discuss the shift in position of the authorities, academia, media, non-governmental organizations, regulatory agencies, patients, and doctors which could enable further advances in the research and application of the therapy. In addition, we discuss methods to obtain optimal phage preparations and suggest the potential of novel applications of phage therapy extending beyond its anti-bacterial action.

Trends in Hospitalization of Children with Bacterial Pneumonia in Poland.

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the hospitalization trends in children aged 0-6 suffering from bacterial pneumonia in the years 2007-2011 in Poland.

Methods: The data pertained to the hospitalized patients diagnosed with the diseases registered as J13-J15 according to ICD-10.

Results: In the years 2007-2011, the hospitalization rate increased from 16.

Quality and safety requirements for sustainable phage therapy products.

The worldwide antibiotic crisis has led to a renewed interest in phage therapy. Since time immemorial phages control bacterial populations on Earth. Potent lytic phages against bacterial pathogens can be isolated from the environment or selected from a collection in a matter of days.

Taking bacteriophage therapy seriously: a moral argument.

The excessive and improper use of antibiotics has led to an increasing incidence of bacterial resistance. In Europe the yearly number of infections caused by multidrug resistant bacteria is more than 400.000, each year resulting in 25.

Selection and characterization of a candidate therapeutic bacteriophage that lyses the Escherichia coli O104:H4 strain from the 2011 outbreak in Germany.

In 2011, a novel strain of O104:H4 Escherichia coli caused a serious outbreak of foodborne hemolytic uremic syndrome and bloody diarrhea in Germany. Antibiotics were of questionable use and 54 deaths occurred. Candidate therapeutic bacteriophages that efficiently lyse the E.