How a virus saved my friend’s life
To see the future of treating bacterial infections, we must look to the past
Several years ago a dear friend of mine suffered a terrible accident that left her hospitalised and fighting for her life. Bedridden for months with a severe bacterial infection and on endless IV lines of antibiotics that weren’t working, it seemed she was living on borrowed time.
There was nothing the doctors could do, but thankfully my friend knew the one person in town who could save her— let’s call them Maria. After taking a swab of the infected wounds and culturing the bacteria, Maria called my friend and said, “I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is it’s multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The good news is I’ve got a phage for that.”
Phage, short for bacteriophage, are viruses that have evolved to only infect and kill specific bacteria. One clandestine trip to administer the phage, and two days later my friend who had been bedridden for months was discharged from hospital.
It sounds like a miracle, but there was nothing miraculous about it — phage, and knowing someone with the skills to use them, simply saved my friend’s life.
Many aren’t so lucky. A health and economic impact study found just five multi-drug resistant…
