Biliary tract infections(BTIs)present a significant therapeutic challenge,particularly in the face of increasing antimicrobial resistance.Bacteriophages,viruses that target and destroy bacteria,offer the potential for...Biliary tract infections(BTIs)present a significant therapeutic challenge,particularly in the face of increasing antimicrobial resistance.Bacteriophages,viruses that target and destroy bacteria,offer the potential for treating severe bacterial infections,although their use in BTIs has been limited.We describe an 88-year-old female with a complex and recurrent BTI caused by multiple bacteria,including multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Despite treatment with various antibiotics and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage(PTCD),her condition did not improve.As a final measure,we implemented personalized phage therapy in combination with antibiotics.An initial 9-day antibiotic treatment combined with a P.aeruginosa phage cocktail administered via PTCD fluid resulted in significant symptom relief.However,phage-resistant pathogens emerged,exhibiting resistance to all 100 double-stranded DNA(dsDNA)phages in our library due to genetic mutations affecting lipopolysaccharides biosynthesis.A second round of therapy with a double-stranded RNA(dsRNA)phage,phiYY,which targets O-antigen deficient mutants,was subsequently administered.Although complete eradication of P.aeruginosa was not achieved,the patient’s clinical symptoms were markedly improved.This case demonstrated the safety and efficacy of phage therapy in the treatment of BTIs and showcased the feasibility of employing dsRNA phages to combat the emergence of O-antigen-deficient bacterial mutants.However,it also underscores the considerable challenges in completely eradicating persistent P.aeruginosa infections,which may be attributed to bacterial heterogeneity,biofilm formation,and phage-resistant genetic mutations.展开更多
Impact statementCOVID-19 remains an ongoing threat to public health,and reliable,continuous disease monitoring programs are essential for preventing future surges of infection.However,without mandated COVID-19 testing...Impact statementCOVID-19 remains an ongoing threat to public health,and reliable,continuous disease monitoring programs are essential for preventing future surges of infection.However,without mandated COVID-19 testing,accurate data of confirmed cases are unavailable.Instead,COVID-19 viruses may be tracked via wastewater samples from sewage manholes in areas of high social connectivity,where captured viral RNA data are biomarkers useful for monitoring and predicting community-level COVID-19 prevalence through machine learning techniques.We construct a prediction model of high sensitivity and specificity to provide evidence of significant underreporting of COVID-19 cases for the time period following the lifting of testing mandates.展开更多
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82402679 to N.L.,82072325 to B.H.,82070772 to T.Z.,32470145 to N.W.)the Shanghai Sailing Program(23YF1443700 to N.L.)the Clinical Research Plan of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission(20224Y0287 to N.L.).
文摘Biliary tract infections(BTIs)present a significant therapeutic challenge,particularly in the face of increasing antimicrobial resistance.Bacteriophages,viruses that target and destroy bacteria,offer the potential for treating severe bacterial infections,although their use in BTIs has been limited.We describe an 88-year-old female with a complex and recurrent BTI caused by multiple bacteria,including multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Despite treatment with various antibiotics and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage(PTCD),her condition did not improve.As a final measure,we implemented personalized phage therapy in combination with antibiotics.An initial 9-day antibiotic treatment combined with a P.aeruginosa phage cocktail administered via PTCD fluid resulted in significant symptom relief.However,phage-resistant pathogens emerged,exhibiting resistance to all 100 double-stranded DNA(dsDNA)phages in our library due to genetic mutations affecting lipopolysaccharides biosynthesis.A second round of therapy with a double-stranded RNA(dsRNA)phage,phiYY,which targets O-antigen deficient mutants,was subsequently administered.Although complete eradication of P.aeruginosa was not achieved,the patient’s clinical symptoms were markedly improved.This case demonstrated the safety and efficacy of phage therapy in the treatment of BTIs and showcased the feasibility of employing dsRNA phages to combat the emergence of O-antigen-deficient bacterial mutants.However,it also underscores the considerable challenges in completely eradicating persistent P.aeruginosa infections,which may be attributed to bacterial heterogeneity,biofilm formation,and phage-resistant genetic mutations.
基金supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Grant No.NU50CK000510.
文摘Impact statementCOVID-19 remains an ongoing threat to public health,and reliable,continuous disease monitoring programs are essential for preventing future surges of infection.However,without mandated COVID-19 testing,accurate data of confirmed cases are unavailable.Instead,COVID-19 viruses may be tracked via wastewater samples from sewage manholes in areas of high social connectivity,where captured viral RNA data are biomarkers useful for monitoring and predicting community-level COVID-19 prevalence through machine learning techniques.We construct a prediction model of high sensitivity and specificity to provide evidence of significant underreporting of COVID-19 cases for the time period following the lifting of testing mandates.
