Jesse and Priscilla talk to infectious disease epidemiologist Steffanie A. Strathdee and her husband, Thomas Patterson, about the race to save Tom’s life from an antibiotic-resistant superbug… that turned him into a snake. Superbugs are expected to kill more people than cancer later this century. The miracle cure turned out to be a bacterial virus called a Phage. Phages are now being explored for their incredible potential to combat superbugs.
Highlights
- Tom contracted a multidrug-resistant bacterial infection in Egypt that could not be cured by traditional antibiotics.
- Tom’s condition quickly deteriorated, and he required multiple forms of life support.
- Steffanie had to make the difficult decision to sustain Tom’s life or let him go based on his living will and power of attorney.
- Unsure of Tom’s wishes, Steffanie spoke to him and asked if he wanted to live by squeezing her hand.
- After exhausting traditional methods, Steffanie reached out to the world’s leading experts in bacterial infections for a cure.
- The experts ultimately created a custom phage therapy that successfully cured Tom’s infection.
- Steffanie and Tom continue to advocate for the use of phage therapy and the need for further research in the field.