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Blocking phages to prevent wound infections

Antiphage immunity for preventing bacterial infection of wounds

April 18, 2019 11:54 AM UTC

Stanford researchers have shown that immunizing against a bacteriophage found in Pseudomonas aeruginosa prevented the bacteria from infecting chronic wounds. The findings offering a prophylactic alternative to using antibiotics to treat surgical and other wounds after they become infected by the ubiquitous bacterial species, which is often drug-resistant.

According to team leader Paul Bollyky, phages present novel targets for immunization to protect against bacterial infections, as his team reported in a March Science paper. Bollyky is an assistant professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University...