Scientists to explore alternative to antibiotics for burns
Will develop a colour-change dressing that releases a phage ‘cocktail’ into the wound
A pioneering method for fighting burn infections in children using natural viruses that kill disease-causing bacteria has been awarded new funding.
The UK-based project aims to develop a burns dressing that will prevent and treat antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’ without the use of antibiotics or synthetic antimicrobials.
A team of researchers from Bristol’s Frenchay hospital, the University of Bath and AmpliPhi Biosciences in Bedfordshire has won funding of £620,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to develop a prototype dressing.
Children account for 50% of all burn injuries, most due to scalds from hot tea, coffee and bath water.
Around 10% of these children become infected by bacteria, which can increase the likelihood of scarring and in some cases cause the death of the child.
In the past 12 months the South West UK Children’s Burn Centre at Frenchay Hospital has treated more than 800 children for serious burn injuries.
Current treatments for infections use chemical antibiotics but bacteria are rapidly evolving resistance to such drugs.
University of Bath project leader Dr Toby Jenkins said: ‘The fact that bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics is extremely worrying.
‘There is an arsenal of drugs at our disposal to treat children with infected burn wounds, but in recent years there have been an increasing number of cases where antibiotics prove ineffective due to bacterial antibiotic resistance. In some cases of infection no antibiotics will be effective in treatment.
‘This is a very serious situation and a great deal of innovation is required in the way we treat infections.
‘The answer, we believe, lies in a radical new approach to treating infection using natural bacteria-killing viruses.’
Bacteriophages have already been shown to be safe and effective in a recent clinical trial in patients with chronic ear infections1, carried out by AmpliPhi’s subsidiary Biocontrol.
Professor Mark Enright, AmpliPhi’s research director, said: ‘These phages are naturally occurring and safe as they only ever infect their target species of bacteria.
‘They enter their host, reproduce and then burst out and then go on to kill more bacteria. Once all the infection-causing bacteria are consumed the phages simply die.
‘Our company is targeting antibiotic resistant bacteria in a number of projects with the aim of producing safe and effective therapies that are subjected to the same type of clinical trials and regulations as new drugs.’
Dr Jenkins aims to introduce phage into burns using advanced dressings, covered with ‘nanocapsules’ used to contain and stabilise the phage.
‘Ultimately we want to make a prototype dressing which releases a phage ‘cocktail’ into the wound only if infected, clearing bacteria and allowing healing. The dressing will also change colour indicating infection at very early stages,’ he said.
Dr Tom Arnot is developing large-scale methods of producing the nanocapsules, and for incorporating the nanocapsules into a gel formulation for topical application to the skin.
The EPSRC funding award will allow the team to develop prototype dressings, undertake microbial analysis and begin preclinical trials, with the aim of commencing clinical trials at the end of the project.
1. Wright, A., et al., A controlled clinical trial of a therapeutic bacteriophage preparation in chronic otitis due to antibiotic resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa; a preliminary report of efficacy. Clinical otolaryngology, 2009. 34(4): p. 349-357