Patient with Life-Threatening Post-Surgery Infection Saved by Virus Found in Singapore River

By
Loh Huey Xin
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The Singapore River saved a life!

A local woman developed a persistent bacterial infection after surgery that didn’t respond to traditional antibiotics and threatened her life.

Fortunately, the medical team found a special virus in the Singapore River and used experimental phage therapy to bring her back from the brink.

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Life-Threatening Infection After Heart Surgery

A local woman in her 30s had a congenital cardiac arterial malformation.

In January last year, shortly after giving birth to her second child, she underwent her fifth open-chest surgery at Singapore General Hospital.

Unfortunately, she developed a severe post-operative infection.

Bacteria repeatedly appeared in her chest cavity and blood that couldn’t be eliminated by traditional antibiotics.

She was at risk of sepsis and faced a life-threatening situation at any moment.

She faced two difficult choices—either undergo another open-chest surgery to remove the source of infection, with a high probability of major bleeding and not surviving the operation; or rely on antibiotic infusions long-term or indefinitely, requiring frequent hospital visits and significantly reducing her quality of life.

Experimental Therapy Using Singapore River Water

Faced with this dilemma, her attending physician, Dr Jasmine Chung Shimin (left), Senior Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Singapore General Hospital, and Associate Professor Andrea Kwa Lay Hoon (right), Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Innovation in Pharmaceuticals, considered the highly experimental phage therapy.

Image: SGH

Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically target bacteria as hosts, devouring them, and are known as natural enemies of bacteria.

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Bacteriophages exist in natural environments such as rivers and soil, but each virus targets only specific stubborn bacteria, and the collection and processing require professional laboratory equipment.

Singapore General Hospital established a bacteriophage research laboratory in 2021 and now has several hundred different bacteriophage samples.

It’s the only known hospital in Singapore with such facilities.

The woman’s medical team searched their bacteriophage inventory and found three that were effective against the bacteria in her body, one of which came from water in the Singapore River.

After about five months of searching and cultivation, and seeking approval from authorities, the patient received a two-week intravenous bacteriophage treatment in September last year.

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The therapy showed results after about two months, with the bacterial infection brought under control.

Last December, she successfully transitioned from intravenous antibiotics to oral antibiotics and is currently recovering well.

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Loh Huey Xin