Bacteriophage therapy of venous leg ulcers in humans: Results of a phase i safety trial

Managing the bacterial population of a wound presents signifi cant chal lenges to the practitioner. Chronic wounds commonly contain bio fi lms.1 However, the phenotype of biofi lm communities is not fully responsive to anti biotics2 and a growing number of wound pathogens are genotypically resistant to antimicrobials. Novel antimicrobial agents that can overcome these resist ant bacteria need to be investigated so that better wound management regimens can be developed. Lytic bacteriophages are viruses that infect and lyse (kill) their bacterial hosts. They attach to their hosts and kill them via a complex internal replica tion and lytic cycle. Lytic bacteriophages were widely used to treat bacterial infections in the fi rst half of the twentieth century, when no serious adverse reactions were reported.