Researchers Aim to Cure Bladder Infections with Viruses
Published: Friday, Jul 21st 2023, 14:00
Mise à jour le : Vendredi, 13 octobre 2023, 14:12
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Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a new therapy approach for bladder infections. Special viruses could hunt down the bacteria that cause the infections in the future. Until then, a newly developed rapid test will improve the conventional treatment with antibiotics. The pathogens of urinary tract infections are becoming increasingly resistant to the antibiotics used, as ETH announced on Friday. In the long term, therefore, new therapy approaches are needed. Researchers from ETH Zurich have found such an approach. In collaboration with the University Clinic Balgrist, they also developed a new rapid test. Both the therapy approach and the new test are based on bacteria-infecting viruses, so-called phages. Phage therapies have been known for a long time, but they have been forgotten with the discovery of penicillin in Western industrial countries. Phages have the decisive advantage that they attack only one target bacterium. To solve this problem and increase the effectiveness of the phages, the researchers genetically modified them. The therapy is still in the laboratory stage - it is still a long way to widespread use. The new rapid test is more quickly available. When treating bladder infections, doctors often face a dilemma: although antibiotic resistances are increasing, they are often forced to prescribe one blindly. With conventional diagnostics, it takes several days to determine the exact pathogen. The new rapid test allows the determination of the pathogen within a few hours. Once the pathogen is known, a more specific antibiotic can be selected. This prevents the development of resistances.
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