40 - Phage
Bedside Rounds
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Exploring the Influence of Phages on Epidemic Dynamics
This chapter delves into the theory of how phages, particularly in the context of Collara outbreaks, could impact epidemic dynamics. It speculates on the role of a secondary phage in halting the Collara epidemic by targeting and killing bacteria, highlighting the intricate relationship between phages, bacteria, and viruses in disease outbreaks.
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Bacteriophages -- viruses that target and kill bacteria -- were one of the most promising medical treatments of the early 20th century, and were used to treat all sorts of infections, from cholera to staph, and everything in between. But by the 1950s, they had all but died out in the West. This episode tells the story of the humble phage, from its discovery in the waters of the Ganges, love trysts ending in a KGB execution, and to a resurgence of this once forgotten therapy in the 21st century as an answer to antibiotic resistance.
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