Researchers recently reported using a cocktail of three genetically engineered viruses, or phages, to successfully treat a British teenager who was sick with antibiotic-resistant infection, according to news reports. The patient developed the infection after receiving a lung transplant, and was initially given less than a 1% chance of survival.
While the teen has not been fully cured, the experimental phage therapy has brought the infection under control. The results have led to discussions that phage therapy could be a promising new weapon in the fight against drug-resistant infections.
In a May 9, 2019 International Business Times article, Eric Rubin, Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and chair of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, said the results offer “a convincing proof of concept, even though it’s just a single case study.”
Read the International Business Times article: Here comes Phage therapy or genetically engineered virus to battle deadly bacteria