Title : Phage therapy in clinical practice: Our experience in 10 cases with different etiology
Abstract:
Difficult-to-treat infections have led to a renewed interest in phage therapy as adjunct to conventional surgical and antimicrobials treatments. Chronic infections, especially when related to biofilm, are difficult to eradicate; in vitro data indicate that phages are active against the target pathogen and biofilm. Clinical phage treatment experiences with prosthetic joint infections, spinal hardware infection, trauma-related infections and craniectomy-related infection have been published with high successful clinical outcomes. We present our experience with phage therapy in 10 cases who have failed multiple surgical interventions and prolonged antibiotic therapy.
Methods: We summarized clinical phage microbiology susceptibility data, administration protocol, clinical data, and outcomes of 10 cases treated with standard phage cocktails and/or custom preparations after failure of standard care. Phages were administered, per os and/or by topical use in 10 patients, mainly with osteoarticular and foreign-device-associated infections, in addition to standard surgical or antibiotic care. The most frequent treated pathogens were MDR Pseudomonas, Klebsiella and Staphilococcus spp. .All the patients received phage products from Eliava Phage Therapy Center Tbilisi, Georgia. The standard duration of therapy was 3 cycles of 15 days with a twice-daily regimen.
Findings: A few minor side effects were noted, including transient fever in the first days after phages administration. Good clinical outcome was documented in 8 out of 10 pa-tients (80%) with bacterial eradication. In 4 patients Two clinical failures were reported.
Findings: A few minor side effects were noted, including transient fever in the first days after phages administration. Good clinical outcome was documented in 8 out of 10 pa-tients (80%) with bacterial eradication. In 4 patients Two clinical failures were reported.
