Iranian Expert: Bacteriophages Can Safely Replace Antibiotics

The market survey shows that after medicines, antibiotics are of great importance, but reducing the volume of antibiotic consumption, especially in livestock and poultry, is one of the global problems, Rouhollah Dorostkar said.

The national plan of resistance and alternative methods was supposed to be implemented by the end of the past Iranian calendar year 1400 (March 2022), but the goal has not been achieved so far, he added.

Dorostkar referred to the use of bacteriophages as one of the alternative methods, saying that the United States has developed 34 products and China has developed 15 approved products being used for treatment and prevention purposes.

Due to the increase in antibiotic resistance, the United States issued a license in 2020 for the use of bacteriophages, Dorostkar noted.

In the Iranian calendar year 1390 (March 2011-March 2012), we started conducting studies on local and foreign bacteriophage products, while also performing studies on the animal phase of these products, he highlighted.

“In the animal phase studies, we performed phage bacterial eye drops and E. coli treatment on rabbits, which were also confirmed to be safe.”

The product was also studied for the treatment of lung infection, and the results indicate that it is safe, he concluded.

4155/g