Bacteriophages - A Newly Discovered Cause Of Strep Throat

The specialists at Rockefeller University performed a complicated medical research which has as main result, the identification of another possible cause of strep throat: a bacteriophage. The so far neglected microorganism that eats bacteria seems to cause not only strep throat but also many other conditions of bacterial nature. It is a surprising discovery, because the main role of the bacteriophages is to infect and destroy a large variety of bacteria, thus also Group A hemolytic streptococcus bacteria, the cause of strep throat.

Researchers blame the bacteriophage for some of the cases of strep throat; the results of their series of studies contradict the traditional belief that bacteriophages don't produce infections inside the human organism. What makes them responsible for conditions like strep throat seems to be the fact that they appear to transfer toxins between bacteria. This discovery is very important, because it gives the answer to the question why some of the patients that test positive for Group A hemolytic streptococcus bacteria lack the symptoms of strep throat and other develop both the disease and one of its complications.

Bacteriophages are viral microorganisms that seem to alter the normal benign function of a large variety of bacteria as it is the case with E - coli that was proved to have a malign function that causes ulcer, although its normal role is to protect the intestinal flora from the external invasions. The study of bacteriophages may help in the identification of a treatment for diseases caused by altered bacterial functions.

Researchers consider strep throat to be generated by a lysogenic conversion, a process in which a bacteriophage carries a toxin to Group A hemolytic streptococcus bacteria, transforming thus what was supposed to be a harmless microorganism into a dangerous one that generates various conditions. A component factor of the saliva, SPIF, makes the lysogenic conversion easier and quicker because it produces the mobilization of the bacteriophages.

On mice, any bacterium appears to be able to convert non-toxicogen and non-infectious agents in toxicogenic infectious agents in presence of a bacteriophage that carries a toxin in its structure. The conversion is made through the very contact. The studies reached the conclusion that the bacteriophage should be controlled too in order to treat diseases generated by lysogenic conversion whose previous treatment only focused on bacteria such as Group A hemolytic streptococcus bacteria in strep throat.