The maximum of bacterium inactivation by the SE-5 phage was 2.5 log, achieved after 12 h of applying phage therapy. However, only after 4 h of treatment, the rate of inactivation was already significant (1.9 log) (Figure 3). The phage control remained constant along the experiment. However, when phages incubated in the presence of its host, the concentration increased significantly (0.35 log) a...

Flavobacterium columnare, the causative agent of columnaris disease in fish, causes millions of dollars of losses in the US channel catfish industry alone, not to mention aquaculture industry worldwide. Novel methods are needed for the control and treatment of bacterial diseases in aquaculture to replace traditionally used chemotherapies. A potential solution could be the use of phages, i.e., b...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains are an important cause of bacterial diarrheal illness in humans and animals. Infections arising from ETEC could potentially be treated through the use bacteriophage (phage) therapy, as phages encode for enzymes capable cell lysis. vB_EcoP_SU7 was isolated Käppala wastewater treatment plant Stockholm, Sweden, propagated on strain exhibiting O:139 s...

(2015) Unexploited opportunities for phage therapy. A Surprising Twist on Bacteriophage Therapy Bacterial infections have always been a threat to human health. The first available systemic antibiotics, in early twentieth century, were initially seen as truly miraculous drugs, providing a powerful tool to combat bacterial infections and increasing human life span. Deluded by their exceptional an...

Acinetobacter baumannii is responsible for most nosocomial infections in hospitals. It can form biofilms and has a high degree of antibiotic resistance. Colistin one the last therapeutic options treatment MDR infections. Recently, strains this pathogen resistance to colistin were reported increasingly. Therefore, alternative antibacterial methods, such as phage therapy, are being researched. Th...

Overuse of antibiotics is a major problem in the treatment of bovine mastitis, and antibiotic treatment is frequently non-curative, thus alternative treatments are necessary. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a purified phage cocktail for treatment of bovine Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in a well-defined mouse model. Candidate phages were selected based on their in...

The complete genomes of two Vibrio cholerae bacteriophages of potential interest for cholera bacteriophage (phage) therapy were sequenced and annotated. The genome size of phage 24 is 44,395 bp encoding 71 putative proteins, and that of phage X29 is 41,569 bp encoding 68 putative proteins.

Recent examples of the use of bacteriophages in controlling bacterial infections are presented, some of which show therapeutic promise. The therapeutic use of bacteriophages, possibly in combination with antibiotics, may be a valuable approach. However, it is also quite clear that the safe and controlled use of phage therapy will require detailed information on the properties and behavior of sp...