We’ve become conditioned to see viruses as our enemy. After all, COVID-19 continues to affect our lives.
But scientists say not all viruses are bad. In fact, we may soon come to rely on them as if our lives depend on them.
If we go back to the early 1900s before penicillin and antibiotics existed, it was discovered that viruses could actually be used to control bacterial infections.
These particular types of viruses are known as bacteria killers - they’re called bacteriophages or simply, phages.
But what’s happened over the past century is that antibiotics have done such a great job clearing bacterial infections that most of the world didn’t have much need for these phages.
The problem now is more and more bacteria are evolving and becoming antibiotic-resistant, earning them the label superbugs.
Professor Tim Stinear, from the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, says drug-resistant infections are already proving to be a big problem.
“I think the last thing anyone wants to hear is that there's another plague or another pandemic waiting for us, but unfortunately there is, you know, antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”
Drug-resistant infections kill close to five million people
Professor Stinear says “the time to act is now” because drug-resistant bacteria has already become a major threat to human health worldwide, killing more people than HIV/AIDS and malaria.
In 2019, around five million deaths were linked to drug-resistant infections.
Benjamin Chan is a Research Scientist of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University and says we’ve become less picky about when we resort to antibiotics as a treatment option.
“When we first started using chemical antibiotics, it was this 'person's gonna die, we need to use this to save a life' and that worked great, " Dr Chan said.
“Then we started using it for less life-threatening things and then agriculture, and we just use them a lot.”
As a result, the bacteria has evolved and can now outwit and dodge the antibiotics trying to kill them.
And Dr Chan says action needs to be taken, otherwise we could find ourselves in some big trouble.
“If we do nothing, right - we just sit here and say, 'let's see what happens' - I think we very quickly would be in a situation like the early 1900s, late 1800s, where there weren't any chemical antibiotics.”
A case for using viruses to heal
Doctors in Brussels, Belgium had recently been trying to treat a female patient with antibiotics for almost two years after her leg became infected with a superbug. When nothing else worked, her doctors unleashed a virus onto her leg and within days there was a noticeable improvement. Then months after the phage therapy there were no signs of the bacterial infection.
Professor Stinear says it adds to a growing body of evidence that viruses could become part of treatment plans in the future.
“So it's a terrific story, and it's a great outcome, and it shows the way of the future.
“This is an old thing but there's a new need, and that's why we're looking again at viruses to treat these infections.”
Graphic showing a bacteriophage tackling a drug-resistant infection.
Could these viruses hurt humans?
But before we go turning to viruses to save us, let’s remember we’re still dealing with this pandemic and no one’s forgetting the fact that coronavirus jumped from animals to humans.
So, could these bacteria-killing viruses harm us as well?
Ben Chan from Yale University says, no.
“They can't infect humans or, or their cells, " he said.
"They're only able to infect bacteria. They're just very different and definitely don't belong in the same pile as COVID."
Dr Chan says it’s likely the viruses will be used in combination with antibiotics.
The virus would be released onto the drug-resistant infection, weakening the bacteria to a point that it becomes sensitive to antibiotics. Then the antibiotics can sweep in and clear out any remaining bacteria.
He explains it like this:
“So, it's a bit of an arms race between the bacteria and the phage, but the phage changes - whereas, penicillin doesn't change on its own,” Mr Chan says.
Experts in this field are already banking up phages around the world.
However, it’s not a silver bullet. Each phage is specific to a particular bacterial infection - it’s not a one-size-fits-all.
Part of the solution to the superbug problem will be reducing our reliance on antibiotics - whether it be in farming or human use.
If we use antibiotics less, they’re more likely to be able to do their job when someone’s life depends on it.
