Old Remedy for Bacterial Infections: Bacteriophage- Replacement for Antibiotics?

[snakelegs]

'Red Army' virus to combat MRSA
By Clare Murphy
BBC News health reporter

An old-fashioned treatment for bacterial infections which was once found in every Red Army soldier's kit bag is being touted as a new weapon against hospital superbug MRSA.

In the 1930s, a war was on. A new treatment for bacterial infections - antibiotics - was seeking to assert its supremacy over another fledgling therapy - a bacteria-devouring virus called a bacteriophage.

In the West, it was Alexander Fleming's antibiotic which won the day: penicillin was effective and widely available thanks to synthetic production.

for the rest of the article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6943779.stm

[Fishman]

'Red Army' virus to combat MRSA
By Clare Murphy
BBC News health reporter

An old-fashioned treatment for bacterial infections which was once found in every Red Army soldier's kit bag is being touted as a new weapon against hospital superbug MRSA.

In the 1930s, a war was on. A new treatment for bacterial infections - antibiotics - was seeking to assert its supremacy over another fledgling therapy - a bacteria-devouring virus called a bacteriophage.

In the West, it was Alexander Fleming's antibiotic which won the day: penicillin was effective and widely available thanks to synthetic production.

for the rest of the article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6943779.stm

:sl:
At last, an alternative to antibiotics that is based on science, as opposed to largely useless 'alternative medicine'!
:w:

[snakelegs]

yes.
it remains to be seen if the pharmaceutical industry will allow it....

[gladTidings]

Sounds like the much needed treatment may have arrived, especially with the increase in antibiotic resistance.

"It will only kill the bacteria you want it to."

There are no known side-effects, researchers stress, although there were significant numbers of deaths in the 1930s and 1940s.