'Bacteria eaters' new warriors against antibiotic resistance
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Loading... - Moses Kimathi
- 07 Jun 2022
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Scientists are exploring the possible use of bacteriophages to curb anti-microbial resistance (AMR) in humans and animals.
Bacteriophages or ‘bacteria eaters’ also called phages are tiny virus-like organisms found in nature and said to be natural enemies of bacteria.
Dr Lillian Musila, the principal investigator at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), has been working with bacteriophages as therapeutic alternatives to antibiotics for the treatment of multidrug-resistant clinical pathogens.
Dr Musila says scientists opted for bacteriophages to kill bacteria as each is specific to a particular type of bacteria.
“The phages work by invading the specific bacteria where they replicate and kill it without targeting any other bacteria,” she explains, adding that “the phages only destroy the harmful bacteria and leave out the useful bacteria unharmed, unlike antibiotics.”
The scientist argues that the bacteriophages have other advantages in that, unlike pharmaceutical products which involve mixing of compounds, the phages are naturally occurring in the same environment as the multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Anti-microbial resistance AMR is a public health threat causing more deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa than HIV and malaria combined. It is estimated that by 2050 it will have caused over 50 million deaths globally, if not checked as superbugs resistant to all known antibiotics are increasing with few antibiotics in the pipeline to treat extensively-drug resistant bacteria.
Just recently, Kenyans took to Twitter and other social media platforms to raise concern over the sale of prescription-only medicine-like Augmentin (Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid) - on online platforms.
Augmentin is used in treating symptoms of different bacterial infections like lower respiratory tract infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bacterial sinusitis, animal bites and skin infections.
Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK) issued a statement stating that the sale and advertising of prescription medicines outside of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board rules and guidelines is a threat to national security.
PSK President Dr Louis Machogu said antimicrobial resistance is a global public health crisis that arises when the bacteria become resistant to locally available and affordable antibiotics because medicines were accessed and used inappropriately. Read More…
