Antibiotics are a great weapon against bacteria. However, with antibiotics also comes the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. When you get hit with a bacteria that even the most potent antibiotic, vancomycin, cannot handle, what will you do? Fortunately, we still have another line of defense: bacteriophages.
These are specialized viruses that can infect and kill bacteria without adverse effects on humans. The therapy is called 'Last Chance Viral Therapy' and can be used against chronic diseases such [as] urinary tract inflammation.
However, there is a big problem when it comes to bacteriophages; their active numbers decrease in the solution for injection, making them ineffective against bacteria.
It seems that scientists have finally found a clue to solve this problem.
More details about this over at PHYS.org.
(Image Credit: Adenosine/ Wikimedia Commons)
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Hey. Doctor here. I wish you wouldn't talk about antibiotic's "potency". It's a common misconception. Different antibiotics work against different bacteria. Some work against a broad range, and some against a narrow range. Vancomycin, for example, is very good at killing gram positive bacteria, but is useless against gram negative bacteria -- so Vancomycin cannot be the "most potent" antibiotics. Would potency be a drug that kills all of one kind of bacteria but leaves another alive? Or would potency be a drug that kills all kinds of different bacteria? Either way, there is no "strongest" or "most potent" antibiotic.
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