Studies on Commercial Bacteriophage Products

Bacteriophage therapy is now being widely used for many types of bacterial infection. In the United States at the present time there are three well known pharmaceutic companies manufacturing bacteriophage and offering it to the medical profession. The present impartial study was undertaken to test these preparations in vitro to ascertain whether they contained genuine potent bacteriophages. It may serve as a guide to physicians who use such preparations and aid them in interpreting clinical results. Should a commercial product prove to contain a bacteriophage only feebly potent or one not capable of producing any lytic action, failure in therapy need not reflect on or injure the reputation of genuine bacteriophage. The first company 1 markets a jelly described in the labels on tube and carton as an antigen containing lysed proteins of staphylococcus. In the accompanying literature, however, appears the definite statement that bacteriophage is present. There are also