What is the issue for NSW?
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria evolve to resist antibiotics, making infections harder to treat. This resistance can limit treatment options and pose serious health risks; something that patients are facing more frequently. To combat this, new and advanced therapies are needed that can fight infections when traditional antibiotics fail. One of these newer treatment options is phage therapy: using viruses of bacteria to treat bacterial infections in humans.
This research is vital in ensuring the best evidence for how these viruses (phages) work when they are used to treat infections. The information will enable tthe most effective use of phage therapy, providing the best outcomes for patients who have no other treatment options.
What does the research aim to do and how?
This research aims to help Australian patients facing very serious infections that don’t respond to antibiotics. These patients have tried all available treatments and are now getting a novel treatment, called phage therapy, through the Special Access Scheme.
This study, known as the STAMP trial, will investigate how phage therapy works for different types of patients and different types of infections. The team is especially interested in understanding how different age groups, including children, respond to this treatment. Patients are monitored very closely, including with blood tests. The information collected will help provide better care for everyone.