| Infection remains the leading cause of death among patients who are
hospitalized for burns. The incidence of burn wound infection is directly correlated to
the extent of the burn and is related to impaired resistance resulting from disruption of
the skin's mechanical integrity and generalized immune suppression. Burn wounds may be
classified as wound cellulitis, which involves the unburned skin at the margin of the
burn, or as an invasive wound infection, which is characterized by microbial invasion of
viable tissue beneath the burn wound eschar. Bacterial burn wound infections and mortality
from burn wound sepsis decrease with rapid burn debridement and wound closure and the use
of effective topical and systemic antimicrobial chemotherapies. Unfortunately, the number
of invasive fungal burn wound infections has risen significantly, likely because of
excessive antimicrobial use. Overall mortality rates from burn wound sepsis remain high.
Phage Therapy
Etiology: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Proteus, Pseudomonas
Phage Therapy Center
Phage Therapy Center treats antibiotic-resistant infections. [More information...].
Three woodsmen in the mountains of Georgia stumbled upon a pair of canisters that were,
oddly, hot to the touch. Then men lugged the objects back to their campsite to warm
themselves on a bitterly cold night. That turned out to be a terrible mistake: the
canisters, Soviet relics once used to power remote generators, were intensely radioactive
and burned two of the men severely. The victims were rushed to the capital, Tbilisi,
where doctors plied them with antibiotics but failed to prevent Staplylococcus bacteria
from invading the deep wounds. Septic shock seemed just around the corner. Then a
kinder legacy of the Soviet Union came to the rescue.
Georgian doctors turned to a therapy virtually unknown in the West: they unleashed the
bacteria's natural predators. The doctors covered the open wounds with novel
biodegradable patches impregnated with bacteriophages.
Radiation Burns
Patient D.N., male, 45 Yr
 |
|
 |
| January 18,
2002 |
|
January 21,
2002 |
|
 |
| February 15, 2002 |
Radiation Ulcer
Patient MG, male, 51 Yr
 |
|
 |
| January
5, 2002 |
|
February
15, 2002 |
The business card-sized PhageBioDerm
patches, recently licensed for sale in Georgia, eliminated the infection, and within a few
weeks the woodsmen were stable enough to go abroad for treatment to replace the lost
skin. [Full Story]
Additional Information About Phage Therapy for This Condition
Hirzfield Institute of Immunology and Virology
Therapeutic
Use of Bacteriophages in Bacterial Infections
Hirzfield Institute of Immunology and Virology
Efficacy of Phage Therapy - Clinical Trials
Evergreen State College
Polish Update
Alfred's
Story
Mediscover, Journal of Infectious Diseases
Antibacterial therapy may only be a phage away
Annals of the MBC, Mediterranean Council for Burns and Fire Disasters
Bacteriophage Therapy of Pseudomonas Burn Wound Sepsis
Science News Online, June 3, 2000
Viruses
that slay bacteria draw new interest
Biotech Journal, Feb/March 2003
Bacteriophage Therapy
CBS 48 Hours, April 9, 2003
Silent Killers: Fantastic Phages?
Eliava Institute
List of Bacteriophages |
