News so good it made us break our Sunday Embargo

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That’s right, good readers, this news is so encouraging that we broke our own Sunday embargo to bring it to you, as you’re always telling us that you like a bit of hope. And it’s extra easy for you today, because we found the same article by Anthony King in both Spanish (El Pais) and English (Horizon) 1,2

The once-disparaged phages are now coming up fast on the rail. A company called Pherecydes, 3 led by the intriguingly-named Guy-Charles Fanneau de la Horie is pioneering the use of phages against the so called deadly three that plague our hospitals. Astute readers will know we refer to Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, whose resistance to conventional antibiotics will soon make surgery and hospital care almost impossible. The team are just starting to trial their discoveries in a limited number of patients in Lyon and hope that licensing will let them go large as soon as possible.

Over in Dublin Siobhan McClean and Bactivax 4 seem to have found a weak spot in Pseudomonas. They think this is in the protein it uses to attack our cells, and hope to develop a vaccine so the body can fight it without the need for antibiotics.

We at LSS are no microbiologists. But the way that intelligent people are thinking differently, and above all trying, fills us with hope. The ignorant and the superstitious seem be having their day during these last few years. But their way of thinking can offer nothing compared to these scientists, and one day we shall be back.

1Las bacterias resisten a los antibióticos, pero los virus y las vacunas podrían ayudar | Ciencia | EL PAÍS (elpais.com)

2 More bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics – here’s how viruses and vaccines could help | Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine | European Commission (horizon-magazine.eu)

3 Pherecydes Pharma (pherecydes-pharma.com)

4 Bactivax

#antimicrobialresistance #bacteriophage #vaccine #hospital #infection #gramnegative