Medical Microbiology, Ninewells Hospital, NHS Tayside, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Public Health, Kings Cross Hospital, NHS Tayside, Dundee, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2023 Nov 13;18(11):e0294190. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294190. eCollection 2023.
Bacterial resistance or tolerance to antibiotics is costly to patients and healthcare providers. With the impact of antibiotic resistance forecast to grow, alternative antimicrobial approaches are needed to help treat patients with antibiotic refractory infections and reduce reliance upon existing antibiotics. There is renewed interest in bacteriophage (phage) therapy as a promising antimicrobial strategy. We therefore performed the first multi-specialty survey about phage therapy and the first such survey among clinicians in the United Kingdom. An anonymous 10-question survey of clinicians from medical and surgical specialties in two Scottish Health Boards was performed. The 90 respondents spanned 26 specialties and were predominantly consultants (73.3%). The respondents were concerned about antibiotic resistance in their clinical practice; 83 respondents estimated having seen 711 patients in the last 12 months whose infections were refractory to antibiotics (delaying or preventing resolution). Over half (58.8%) of the respondents had previously heard of phage therapy. Staphylococci, Pseudomonas and E. coli were identified as the highest cross-specialty priorities for the development of phage therapy. Together, 77 respondents estimated seeing 300 patients in the last 12 months for whom phage therapy may have been appropriate (an average of 3.9 patients per clinician). Most respondents (71.1%, n = 90) were already willing to consider using phage therapy in appropriate cases. Additional comments from the respondents affirmed the potential utility of phage therapy and highlighted a need for more information. The results of this survey demonstrate substantial demand for and willingness to use phage therapy in appropriate cases, both from individual clinicians and across specialties. Demand from a wide range of specialties illustrates the broad clinical utility of phage therapy and potential scope of impact. Widening access to phage therapy could deliver substantial clinical and financial benefits for patients and health authorities alike.
细菌对抗生素的耐药性或耐受性会给患者和医疗保健提供者带来高昂的代价。随着抗生素耐药性的影响预计会增加，需要替代的抗菌方法来帮助治疗对抗生素有抗药性的感染患者，并减少对现有抗生素的依赖。噬菌体（噬菌体）治疗作为一种有前途的抗菌策略重新引起了人们的兴趣。因此，我们进行了第一次多专业的噬菌体治疗调查，也是英国第一次针对临床医生的此类调查。对苏格兰两个卫生委员会的医学和外科专业的临床医生进行了一项匿名的 10 个问题的调查。90 名受访者涵盖 26 个专业，主要是顾问（73.3%）。受访者对他们的临床实践中的抗生素耐药性感到担忧；83 名受访者估计在过去 12 个月中治疗了 711 名感染对抗生素有抗药性（延迟或阻止痊愈）的患者。超过一半（58.8%）的受访者之前听说过噬菌体治疗。葡萄球菌、铜绿假单胞菌和大肠杆菌被确定为噬菌体治疗的最高跨专业优先事项。共有 77 名受访者估计在过去 12 个月中看到了 300 名可能适合噬菌体治疗的患者（每位临床医生平均 3.9 名患者）。大多数受访者（71.1%，n=90）已经愿意在适当的情况下考虑使用噬菌体治疗。受访者的其他意见肯定了噬菌体治疗的潜在效用，并强调需要更多信息。这项调查的结果表明，无论是个体临床医生还是跨专业，都有大量需求并愿意在适当的情况下使用噬菌体治疗。来自广泛专业的需求说明了噬菌体治疗的广泛临床实用性和潜在的影响范围。扩大噬菌体治疗的可及性可以为患者和卫生当局带来巨大的临床和经济效益。
