People have been using antibiotics since it has treated its first patient. From thereon, the use and consumption of antibiotics were fast and easy, and needless to say, many people have seen the advatages of antibiotics by treating their body infection with the use of this kind of medication. But more often than not, some doctors are now trying to mix and prescribe different antibiotics for one single patient, depending on the patient's health condition. This technique may not work though, since not all antibiotics, when combined together, can treat certain types of health condition that involves infection or bacteria. And yet, more and more cases are prescribed with one antibiotic after another without being able to eliminate the infection of the patient, simply because the bacteria may have become immune to the drugs, or have been resistant and was able to fight off the antibiotics.
One of the problem bugs in the UK is the staph infection. It is a type of infection caused by a Staphylococcus or “staph” bacteria. However, there is an increasing percentage that is seen already growing in the US. An estimate of 90,000 US patients die annually from infections contracted in the hospital, many of them caused by multi-resistant bacteria. During the past 4 to 5 years, doctors have been alarmed to see some resistant staph strains leaving their original home (the hospitals) and conquering cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago. But staph is not the only enemy here. Many hospital patients contract bugs that can cause severe diarrhea. Another bug that often have a high degree of resistance is called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and usually, burn victims are the suspects for this bug.
Upon knowing this, people can conclude that all these bacteria seemingly have the power to resist against all available drugs, especially antibiotics. Still, many pharmaceutical companies have stopped their research on antibiotics because they don't see enough profit in that market. As such, many researchers and doctors alike are trying to investigate on different antibiotic alternatives that could help minimize the deaths and suffering from patients worldwide.
An interesting take on antibiotic alternatives would be the use of Phage Therapy. This therapy only involves one thing: their repoduction. Without the help of their victims, these weapons of treatment would be more like a dead piece of protein with a touch of genetic material. But if the phages do hit a suitable bacterium, they can multiply in a rapid and efficient cycle. This antibiotic alternative works when the virus uses its tail fibres to attach itself to its victim. Details of what happens next vary according to the different phage types. But their aim is always the same: to get their genetic material, which is located in the head, inside the bacterium. Basically, it eats out the bad bacteria in infections, without bringing any unwanted effects to the patient, since they don’t touch animal or human cells, which is why they are harmless to human beings.
Phage Therapy has several advantages over antibiotics. One of them is that phages are very specific and do not harm the useful bacteria that live in and on the body. Antibiotics, however, also attack harmless bacteria that make a living on us. This can, for instance, lead to severe diarrhea, especially in patients with weak immune systems. Furthermore, phages also attack bacteria that are resistant against antibiotics.
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