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Comment by moppl | Hacker News Reader

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moppl·

There exists an alternative to antibiotics since it's very beginnings. It is the bacteriophages therapy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phage_therapy

It is practiced since the 20ies in Tiblisi Georgia. TED talk about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjH6m5VuR6I

So it is not all doomsday.

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I don't know how someone can say "this promising therapy exists only in Tblisi" and not be immediately suspicious...

There are serious limitations to the current application of phage therapy, not the least of which is the need to positively identify a given strain you want to attack.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phage_therapy#Obstacles

Isn't this potentially a feature? In that you won't be promoting resistance in non target bacteria? Seems that this would force much less over-prescription.

That does seem like an advantage, but the downside is that people who don't have access to fancy diagnostic equipment potentially just die of things that could be cured with some antibiotics....

On a tangential note, that "Phage therapy" Wikipedia page makes reference to the Sinclair Lewis book "Arrowsmith":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrowsmith_(novel)

I found it to be one more the more inspirational books I had read as a young student.

For open wounds there is also maggot therapy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggot_therapy

I was thinking this as well. It seems rather promising as a partial replacement at first. Hope that this will offer solutions to the antibiotics problem long term.

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