Bacteria-eating virus collection could help tackle hospital superbug

Southampton researchers are leading an international project on a potential new treatment for a serious threat in hospitals.

They have found it in a surprising location - hospital toilets.

The team have comprehensively catalogued a new collection of bacteria-eating viruses called phages. They have sourced these, in part, from hospital wastewater.

These phages could potentially be used to treat one of the world’s most dangerous hospital superbugs.

Serious threat to patients

The project is being led by Dr Franklin Nobrega, Associate Professor in Microbiology at the University of Southampton.

He is part of the Metabolism, Infection and Immunity theme at the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre.

The phages in the collection have been shown to be effective against different strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

This is a type of bacteria that has become a serious threat in hospitals. This is due to its growing resistance to many antibiotics.

Klebsiella can cause serious infections. These include pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and urinary tract infections. Hospital patients or people with weakened immune systems are most at risk.

Health officials are particularly concerned. Some strains are developing resistance to multiple antibiotics. This includes antibiotics used as a last resort, when others have failed.

Open to scientists everywhere

Phages that target Klebsiella are increasingly being documented in research. However, their clinical use has been slowed by fragmented access to data on phages and which bacteria they target.

To speed up research and treatment development, the researchers have made the new collection open source. It is publicly available at www.klebphacol.org.

The collection has also recently been detailed in a paper published in Nucleic Acids Research.

Dr Franklin Nobrega is leading the project. His work is supported by Bowel Research UK.

“Making the Klebsiella Phage Collection open access is crucial,” he said. “It means scientists everywhere can both use and build on it.

“Researchers can request samples of phages and bacterial strains for their own studies, compare results across labs, and even contribute new phages and strains to the collection.

“By sharing these resources openly, we’re breaking down barriers that have slowed progress and creating a truly collaborative global effort to tackle antibiotic resistance.”

New phage family discovered

Different phages work a bit like different keys. Each one can only “unlock” (infect) certain strains of the bacteria.

The Klebsiella Phage Collection fully characterises 52 different phages, alongside 74 strains of Klebsiella.

These phages come from five viral families. This includes a newly discovered group linked to the human gut.

Previous studies have suggested some strains of Klebsiella are associated with gut inflammation. They may potentially worsen inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

“Some of these newly identified phages can be found in people’s guts across the world, in everyone from pre-term babies to older adults,” commented Dr Nobrega. “They were found in healthy guts, so we know they are important for good gut health.

“The presence or absence of certain phages can predict how severe diseases like bowel cancer and IBD are going to be. So our discovery, along with our new library of phages, paves the way for more research to understand more about these diseases and ultimately improve treatments.”

The research is being funded by Bowel Research UK. Kathryn Pretzel-Shiels, their CEO, said:

“Research like this is crucial in understanding the best way to harness the power of the microbiome to prevent and treat bowel conditions.

"We're enabling more research to help scientists fully understand the role our gut microbiome plays in maintaining a healthy gut and protecting us from bowel disease.”

The hope is that this phage library will support new treatments.

It will also improve understanding of how phages and bacteria interact. This knowledge could prove vital in the fight against antibiotic resistance.