Clinical utilization of bacteriophages: a new perspective to combat the antimicrobial resistance in Brazil

Author(s)

Martins, Willames M. B. S. ^{[1, 2]} ; Toleman, Mark A. ^[2] ; Gales, Ana C. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Med Interna, UNIFESP, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Cardiff Univ, Dept Infect & Immun, Cardiff - Wales

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases; v. 24, n. 3, p. 239-246, MAY-JUN 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

ABSTRACT Due to the emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria, and the evident limitation in therapeutic options, alternatives to combat bacterial infections have been sought. One of these is phage therapy, which is the use of bacterial viruses to kill pathogenic bacteria responsible for the infection. These viruses called bacteriophages are very abundant organisms in the world and are harmless to humans. There are several advantages in using phage therapy, especially against multi-drug resistant pathogens, which tend to be dominated by individual strains. The advantages include fewer collateral effects such as lower disturbance of gut microbiota and less antimicrobials consumption, which itself leads to reducing antibiotic resistance rates. Unfortunately, few clinical studies have been initiated in Brazil and this area is little explored in our country. This manuscript describes clinical evidence of successful phage utilization on pathogens considered a threat in Brazil, highlighting the benefits of a possible phage utilization as an important tool to combat antimicrobial resistance in our country. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/24431-4 - Investigation and characterization of bacteriophages with lytic activity against the main epidemic bacterial clones recovered from Brazilian hospitals
• Grantee: Willames Marcos Brasileiro da Silva Martins
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral