Reinventing the fight against bacteria, one phage at a time.

Guntur doctors cure drug-resistant bone infection with phage therapy Dr. K. Kalyan Chakravarthy  Dr. K. Kalyan Chakravarthy | Photo Credit: T VIJAY KUMAR Doctors at SHRI Hospital, Guntur, have successfully treated a 72-year-old woman from Bapatla suffering from a chronic, multidrug-resistant bone and joint infection. The patient had battled Acinetobacter baumannii for six months — resistant to all available antibiotics — before being admitted in critical condition in January. Led by Dr K. Kalyan Chakravarthy, specialist in sepsis and infectious diseases, in collaboration with Prof. Gopal Nath of Banaras Hindu University, the team used bacteriophage therapy — viruses that target bacteria — assisted by orthopaedic surgeon Dr Raviteja Y. and anaesthetist Dr Ramakrishna K. The patient has had no recurrence in the past six months. Once common before antibiotics, phage therapy is regaining attention amid rising antimicrobial resistance. Properly purified, bacteriophages are considered sa...

Effective, yet vulnerable: Review outlines key hurdles to using bacteriophages for plant disease control Using bacteriophages for plant disease protection faces key challenges. ( https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0160412019305410-ga1_lrg.jpg ) Using bacteriophages for plant disease protection faces key challenges including poor stability, environmental sensitiv ity, and timing issues, a new review finds. A team from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research and the Department of Plant Pathology of the University of Florida reviewed the current state of bacteriophage (phage) therapy for plant disease control. Bacteriophages, or simply phages, are viruses that target bacterial hosts and exhibit typical viral characteristics. They cannot replicate independently and must rely on a bacterial host for reproduction. The review highlighted its potential as an alternative to antibiotics, especially in the face of growing regulatory restrictions on agricultural antibiotics. The inte...