Genetically Modified Viruses Help Save A Patient With A 'Superbug' Infection
Treatment with genetically altered bacteriophages — viruses that attack bacteria — may have halted a patient's near-fatal infection, hinting at new ways to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
For the first time, scientists have used genetically modified viruses to treat a patient fighting an antibiotic-resistant infection.
Isabelle Carnell-Holdaway, 17, began the experimental treatment after doctors lost all hope. She was struggling with a life-threatening infection after a lung transplant. With the new treatment, she has not been completely cured. But the Faversham, England, teenager has recovered so much that she has resumed a near-normal life.
"I think it's amazing," Carnell-Holdaway says. "It kind of shows that there is completely no limit to what they can come up with really."
Doctors and scientists stress that it's difficult to
