Phage Therapy in Poland – a Centennial Journey to the First Ethically Approved Treatment Facility in Europe

Abstract

Although phage discovery is an unquestionable merit of the English bacteriologist Frederick W. Twort and the Canadian-French microbiologist Félix d'Hérelle, who both discovered phages over 100 years ago, the Polish history of phage studies also dates back to those years. In contrast to the Western world, developing phage treatment in Poland has never been abandoned despite the country's tense history marked by the Second World War (WWII) and the communism era. Today, Poland takes a prominent and remarkable place in the phage research area. Furthermore, established in 2005, the Phage Therapy Unit at the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy in Wrocław, the first such center within European borders, has quickly become a model for other centers in the world facing the issue of widespread antibiotic resistance. This article constitutes an attempt to fill the gap in the scientific literature by providing a comprehensive summary of the long tradition of phage research in Poland.

Strategies for Surface Immobilization of Whole Bacteriophages: A Review

“…Bacteriophages were independently discovered by microbiologists Frederick Twort in London in 1915 and by Felix d'Herelle in Paris in 1917 6 .It should be noted that extensive research on phage phenomena was also carried out in Poland during the interwar period 7 , as well as in Brazil. Indeed, the oft-cited pioneering 1919 work by d'Hérelle in the use of phage to treat dysentary in French soldiers was followed relatively soon afterwards by similar trials in 1923 in both Poland 7 and Brazil 8 .…”

The Safety and Efficacy of Phage Therapy for Bone and Joint Infections: A Systematic Review

“…However, the discovery of antibiotics catalysed the decline of phage therapy in the geopolitical West, where injudicious use, uncertainty about the nature of phages and manufacturing challenges conspired to dispel enthusiasm in phage therapy [ 6 ]. Meanwhile, phage therapy remained a frontline antimicrobial strategy across the former Soviet Union, largely in Russia, the Eliava Institute in Georgia and the Hirszfeld Institute in Poland, where thousands of patients have been successfully treated [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Effectiveness of Phage-Based Inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes in Food Products and Food Processing Environments

“…The leading research centers in the field of phage therapy were from the former USSR and Poland. The major scientific groups which continue their research in the area since the beginning of the 20th century are located in The Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology (Tbilisi, Georgia) [ 25 ] and The Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy (Wrocław, Poland) [ 26 ], despite the triumph of antibiotics in 1940s [ 27 ]. All available evidence indicates that phages are harmless to humans, including their consumption [ 24 ].…”