what is bacteriophage therapy?
Antibiotic resistance is on the rise today and the question many are asking is, what can we do?
Enter bacteriophage therapy. I recently learned about this therapy while traveling in Tiblesi, Georgia. Georgia is the leading country for this therapy, they have been using it for over 100 years and many people with chronic health issues travel here to receive it. More than 95% of their patients have been able to successfully eradicate their infections with this therapy, without antibiotics and it is widely used as first line treatment.
This therapy is not new, it stems back to the 1920's and 1930's and was widely used in America and then abandoned when antibiotics arrived on the scene and were commercialized. It was further suppressed internationally during the Soviet period, but was used locally against almost all major bacterial and viral diseases, such as anthrax, rubies, tuberculosis, brucellosis, salmonellosis, dysentery of that time. Due to the rising problem of antibiotic resistance, it is now re-emerging and becoming popularized.
What are bacteriophages?
Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that attack and make copies of themselves inside different bacteria. But they can't infect cells in plants, animals, or humans (PMID: 37113000). Therapy with bacteriophages involves the oral administration of a single, isolated type of phage. They attach themselves to their bacterial counterparts in the patient's body in order to survive.
The phages reverse the polarity of the bacterial cell in such a way that it produces further phages, filling up with more and more phages and finally bursts. Then, the released phages attach themselves to other bacteria until all of the bacteria have been destroyed.
Bacteriophages exist wherever there are bacteria and are therefore found in nearly every environmental matrix as well as in animal and the human gut.
The first known successful clinical use of intravenous bacteriophage therapy in the U.S. occurred in March 2016 at the University of California San Diego, where a phage preparation was used to treat a severe multi-antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infection.
It is a growing practice and I hope to shine light on it to help those struggling with recurrent infections.
If you have chronic recurrent infections:
Chronic urinary tract infections
Lyme and babesia
Recurrent dysbiosis
Prostatitis
Recurrent staph infections on your skin
Candida
Chronic sinus infections
Osteomyelitis and more
Or other infection associated with antibiotic resistance
It is worth talking to your doctor about this therapy! There are many clinics popping up in the States choosing to use this therapy and many promising clinical studies. Explore your options or share this with someone you know struggling with recurrent infections!
You can purchase the therapy online with provider guidance. I have linked the store and clinic I found in Tibelsi below. Please remember, I am not sharing this as medical advice. Before using this type of therapy, you need to consult with your primary care provider.
Online Store:
Cinic:
https://www.phagetherapycenter.com/pii/PatientServlet?command=static_home
Online store:
Sources:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10146840/#B2-viruses-15-01020
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10124553/#:~:text=Some%20antiviral%20responses%20that%20are,%2DBarr%20virus%20(EBV).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37113000/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8636187/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10146840/
*Image above is generated by Canva AI.
