Bacteriophages ( bacteria-eating viruses ) occur naturally in billions – their weight in the oceans alone may be equal to the weight of human beings on earth !

• They have been recognized for about a century and their source for “ treatment “ in Georgia is the sewage where they live with their “ host “ bacteria. Public awareness outside the former Soviet Union is low. Interest declined after introduction of antibiotics 60 years ago. Phage therapy has yet to pass clinical trials demanded by regulatory bodies in the west, added to which pharmaceutical firms have been reluctant to get involved when significant profit seems unlikely.


• While the future of phage therapy is not yet clear, there is an undoubted problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and other organisms. New antibiotics are needed. Antibiotics fail partly because bugs develop resistance. It’s becoming harder ( and not profitable enough ) for the pharmaceutical industry to search for new antibiotics.

• Resistance is not, however, just due to bugs which beat responsible antibiotic use. In humans it MAY result from excessive antibiotic use in farm animals.

• Over-use and plain wrong use are significant factors. Patients should NOT demand antibiotic prescriptions from their doctors unless judged clinically necessary. Common colds don’t need antibiotics. If they ARE appropriately prescribed, the course should be completed – not stopped when the patient feels better.

• Even worse is buying antibiotics “ over-the-counter “ without prescription, not allowed in UK ; supposedly prohibited in southern European countries and the Philippines. Responsible pharmacists would not sell them. Selling on line is harder to control.

• Counterfeit drugs are in fact a growing global threat, and not just antibiotics but also others such as anti-cancer drugs, and “ Viagra “. They rarely work, may have serious side effects, and delay proper treatment.


• Even genuine “ generic medicines “ ( equivalent to the original “ innovator “ drug ) may be hard to obtain. They are much cheaper than the originals - but drug companies do everything they can, as well as patenting, to ensure only their drugs may be used – at extortionate prices unaffordable to many who need them.

• There is a particular problem with two serious and common infections.

• Tuberculosis ( TB ), covered in detail elsewhere, now has multidrug resistance, and extensively drug-resistant forms – among the worst countries for this being China, India, and Romania. Too few drugs, for too short a period, or the wrong drugs, are to blame.

• Malaria is the other worrying infection. Spread of drug-resistant malaria parasites in South East Asia, including Philippines, and Africa, are not helped by poor quality drugs. These lead to drug resistance and inadequate treatment - possibly a third of “ antimalarials “ in S E Asia, although it’s hard to obtain accurate figures ( http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...064-6/fulltext ).

• The issue is global, but at least experts are aware of it, both in the UK ( https://www.gov.uk/government/public...eport-volume-2 ) and Philippines ( http://www.philstar.com/metro/2013/0...t-prescription ).