Phage therapy offers hope in fight against antibiotic resistance and superbugs

While one virus claims thousands of lives across the globe daily, it’s hoped millions more could eventually be saved by other viruses.

Some of them are lurking in this sewage system at a Sydney nursing home.

Human waste is a rich source of organisms called bacteriophages — known as “hunt and kill viruses” for their ability to bind to bacteria and destroy them.

Increasingly, the viruses are of interest to doctors concerned about antibiotic resistance — a health threat predicted to cause 10 million deaths per year by 2050.