In recent combat theaters, despite advances in treating critical injuries leading to higher survival rates, there has been an increase in the number of infections linked to trauma, particularly those caused by bacteria resistant to multiple drugs 1,2. Research from the Trauma Infectious Disease Outcomes Study indicates that 27% of those evacuated with injuries develop infectious complications, a figure that rises to 50% among patients in intensive care units. Strategies to prevent infection involve using acute doses of narrow-spectrum antibiotics and infection control; the key approach to preventing wound infections is debridement and wound irrigation. Typically, many infections are managed with surgery and antibiotics tailored to the pathogens that are anticipated or identified. There is a need to break the nosocomial transmission within the chain of combat casualty care.
We successfully mimicked the nanoarchitecture of antimicrobial viruses (Phages),3 and clearly demonstrated a nanostructure-dependent antimicrobial effect that will be a viable alternative to traditional antibiotics. The 100% bacterial killing rate achieved in vitro has allowed us to carry forward further research to validate these results in in vivo wound infection models.
Reference:[1] Yun, H.C metal. Curr Trauma Rep 3, 315–323 (2017) [2] Tribble D.R. et al Mil Med. Nov 1;184(Suppl 2):18-25. (2019) [3] Hopf,J., Nallathamby, P.D., et al. Nanoscale Advances, 2019, 1, 4812–4826; Olesk, J., Nallathamby, P.D., Nanoscale Advances, 2024, DOI: 10.1039/D3NA00620D
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