Phage Therapy

Bacteriophages are a class of viruses, one fortieth the size of bacteria, which have evolved to attack and destroy bacteria, which they do with stunning efficiency. Phages are the natural predators of bacteria. By isolating bacteriophages specific to particular bacterial pathogens it is possible to treat and eradicate bacterial infections, including those caused by antibiotic resistant forms.

Phage therapy was discovered and first applied in 1919 by Felix d’Hérelle at the Pasteur Institute in France, but became largely forgotten by Western medicine during the 1940’s with the advent of antibiotics. It continued being refined and widely used in the former Soviet Union.  Phage therapy is now being re-discovered in the West to help combat antibiotic resistance.

Phage therapy products are eco-friendly: they are self-amplifying, highly specific, do not affect the body’s normal bacterial flora, have no serious side-effects or residues and are self-limiting.   But their most valuable characteristic is that they are unaffected by antibiotic resistance and work equally well against antibiotic resistant or non-resistant bacteria.

Félix d’Hérelle’s first publication on bacteriophages dated 1917.

Félix d’Hérelle posthumously honoured by the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2007.