People tend to have a positive attitude towards fighting bacteria and viruses, even if they know nothing about this problem. Reported by the University of Exeter.
In recent years, experts have frequently warned of a crisis in microbial resistance. Gradually, more and more antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria are emerging, and their evolution is faster than doctors can synthesize new antibiotics. In this regard, doctors and biologists are looking for alternative ways to fight bacteria. One of these is phage therapy, which uses antimicrobial viruses that infect bacteria.
Sophie McCammon and her colleagues conducted a survey to assess the British public’s attitude towards phage therapy. 787 people attended. Volunteers were presented with two scenarios: legend has it that in the first case they had a mild infection, and in the second case, an infection that had not responded to antibiotic therapy for three months.
Participants were randomly shown one of four definitions of phage therapy and then asked what they thought of such treatment. In general, regardless of the (true) explanation, people turned out to have a positive attitude towards it. However, descriptions of phage therapy using harsh words like “kill” and “virus” resulted in lower acceptance rates than alternative descriptions. In addition, participants who have up-to-date information about antibiotic resistance and alternative treatments are more open to phage therapy.
Among the participants, 38 percent showed particular interest in advances in phage therapy, and 17 percent generally supported the development of alternatives to antibiotics.
Thus, contrary to possible fears, people are not afraid of using viruses to fight bacteria.
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