NEW WEAPON IN FIGHT AGAINST MRSA

2 November 2004

Scientists from the University of Strathclyde have devised a way to use viruses in the war against the deadly superbugs infecting the UK’s hospital wards.

Dr Michael Mattey and his team in the Department of Bioscience have identified waterborne bacteriophage viruses capable of killing the three most common strains of the MRSA superbug.

Bacteriophages are tiny strips of DNA housed in a protein coat. When bacteria brush against them, the bacteriophage attach themselves and insert their DNA hijacking the bacterium’s own genetic material which creates 100s of copies of the phage. Eventually the bacterium bursts open and the phages spill out to infect other bacteria.

Until now it has been impossible to use them as sterilising agents as they can only survive in water, whereas bacteria can linger for several days in a dry environment eg a hospital floor. It is also pointless injecting them directly into patients as the human immune system would destroy them.

However, Dr Mattey has found a way to bind bacteriophages to solids using a special surface, allowing them to live for two weeks after the sterilising fluid containing them has dried out.

The three main strains of MRSA account for 95% of all hospital infections in Britain and the United States and cost the NHS £1billion to treat annually. The bug affects 10,000 people every year in Scotland alone.

Dr Mattey said: “Creating new antibiotics to tackle suberbugs like MRSA takes a long time and the superbugs render them obsolete. We have chosen a different approach ­ bacteriophages are the natural born killers of the microbe world. They can only infect and destroy bacteria and don’t harm humans.

“It won’t sterilise a ward or kill off bacterial colonies as actually if a hospital is TOO clean it can leave more room for superbugs. But the bacteriophages will tackle the problem of MRSA.”

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