Superbugs revive interest in phage use
by Agency Staff,
2016-03-03 06:08:04.0
WHEN doctors told Christophe Novou that his leg would have to be amputated at the hip due to a raging bacterial infection, the Frenchman thought about killing himself.
After surviving a crippling traffic accident and dozens of operations to repair the damage, to him life in a wheelchair did not seem worth living.
That’s when an article about a clinic in Georgia offering an obscure treatment for hard-to-treat infections using live virus — known as phage therapy — caught his eye. Within hours, he was on a plane to Tbilisi.
"Without it, I wouldn’t be here," says Mr Novou, 47, on the sidelines of a conference in Paris about the mostly forgotten therapy, which remains marginal outside a few former Soviet bloc countries.
The treatment harnesses viruses called phages to kill dangerous bacteria, including "superbugs" that have become resistant to antibiotics.
In Mr Novou’s case, it was staphylococcus, a common bacteria that can cause anything from a boil to horrible flesh-eating infections.
Mostly ignored up to now by mainstream medicine, the treatment has started to gain adherents over the past 15 years, especially in France, Belgium and the US.
The renewed interest is partly driven by a problem that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently described as a "global health crisis": the considerable rise of antibiotic-resistant strains of deadly pathogens.
WHO chief Margaret Chan warned in November of a "postantibiotic era", in which common infections will become killers again.
"Phage therapy is especially effective for infections that affect bones and articulation, but can also be used for urinary, pulmonary and eye infections," says Alain Dublanchet, a doctor at the forefront of a movement to resurrect the treatment in France.
Discovered during the First World War, it has few undesirable side-effects. Dr Dublanchet, now retired, claims to have cured at least 15 patients of infections they contracted, mainly after road accidents, and for whom antibiotics did not work.
Treatment usually lasts a few weeks, and is far less expensive than last-resort antibiotics.
Pharmaceutical firms have shown little interest in phage therapy, as viruses cannot be patented, according to participants at the Paris conference.
"The return on investment is just too small," says WHO consultant on infectious diseases, Jean Carlet.
A few start-ups have invested in phage therapy, which the European Union (EU) classified as a medicine in 2011. But drug trials can easily take a decade, so these are long-term — and perhaps long-shot — investments.
No virus used in phage therapy has yet been approved as a treatment.
"It will take years and a lot of money," says Jean-Paul Pirnay, a doctor at the Reine Astrid military hospital in Brussels.
Because phage therapy is not recognised in France, Dr Dublanchet and other practitioners — working in a grey zone — often wind up going to eastern Europe to procure the viruses.
In the US, the only phages on the market are used in the antibacterial treatment of food products.
The EU has launched a clinical trial called Phagoburn to test the effectiveness of virus-based treatments on victims of severe burns. Half of a group of 220 participants are to be treated with established techniques, and the other half with phage therapy.
Temporary authorisation for phage therapy may be granted in France "if the products are of sufficient quality and there is a presumption of efficacy", says Caroline Semaille from France’s drug regulator, ANSM.
Mr Novou spent €8,000 on his treatment in Tbilisi in 2013, but has no regrets. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of French people have done the same, says Dr Dublanchet, and most come back in better shape.
"It’s not a matter of replacing antibiotics with phage therapy," he says. "They should be complementary." He also warns of the possible spread of therapeutic viruses into the environment, saying medical use should be monitored strictly.
AFP
Picture: REUTERS/JOSHUE DECAVELE
WHEN doctors told Christophe Novou that his leg would have to be amputated at the hip due to a raging bacterial infection, the Frenchman thought about killing himself.
After surviving a crippling traffic accident and dozens of operations to repair the damage, to him life in a wheelchair did not seem worth living.
That’s when an article about a clinic in Georgia offering an obscure treatment for hard-to-treat infections using live virus — known as phage therapy — caught his eye. Within hours, he was on a plane to Tbilisi.
"Without it, I wouldn’t be here," says Mr Novou, 47, on the sidelines of a conference in Paris about the mostly forgotten therapy, which remains marginal outside a few former Soviet bloc countries.
The treatment harnesses viruses called phages to kill dangerous bacteria, including "superbugs" that have become resistant to antibiotics.
In Mr Novou’s case, it was staphylococcus, a common bacteria that can cause anything from a boil to horrible flesh-eating infections.
Mostly ignored up to now by mainstream medicine, the treatment has started to gain adherents over the past 15 years, especially in France, Belgium and the US.
The renewed interest is partly driven by a problem that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently described as a "global health crisis": the considerable rise of antibiotic-resistant strains of deadly pathogens.
WHO chief Margaret Chan warned in November of a "postantibiotic era", in which common infections will become killers again.
"Phage therapy is especially effective for infections that affect bones and articulation, but can also be used for urinary, pulmonary and eye infections," says Alain Dublanchet, a doctor at the forefront of a movement to resurrect the treatment in France.
Discovered during the First World War, it has few undesirable side-effects. Dr Dublanchet, now retired, claims to have cured at least 15 patients of infections they contracted, mainly after road accidents, and for whom antibiotics did not work.
Treatment usually lasts a few weeks, and is far less expensive than last-resort antibiotics.
Pharmaceutical firms have shown little interest in phage therapy, as viruses cannot be patented, according to participants at the Paris conference.
"The return on investment is just too small," says WHO consultant on infectious diseases, Jean Carlet.
A few start-ups have invested in phage therapy, which the European Union (EU) classified as a medicine in 2011. But drug trials can easily take a decade, so these are long-term — and perhaps long-shot — investments.
No virus used in phage therapy has yet been approved as a treatment.
"It will take years and a lot of money," says Jean-Paul Pirnay, a doctor at the Reine Astrid military hospital in Brussels.
Because phage therapy is not recognised in France, Dr Dublanchet and other practitioners — working in a grey zone — often wind up going to eastern Europe to procure the viruses.
In the US, the only phages on the market are used in the antibacterial treatment of food products.
The EU has launched a clinical trial called Phagoburn to test the effectiveness of virus-based treatments on victims of severe burns. Half of a group of 220 participants are to be treated with established techniques, and the other half with phage therapy.
Temporary authorisation for phage therapy may be granted in France "if the products are of sufficient quality and there is a presumption of efficacy", says Caroline Semaille from France’s drug regulator, ANSM.
Mr Novou spent €8,000 on his treatment in Tbilisi in 2013, but has no regrets. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of French people have done the same, says Dr Dublanchet, and most come back in better shape.
"It’s not a matter of replacing antibiotics with phage therapy," he says. "They should be complementary." He also warns of the possible spread of therapeutic viruses into the environment, saying medical use should be monitored strictly.
AFP
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