VICPhage Service
Health professional information
Clinical service overview
VICPhage, an initiative in partnership with Monash University, and as part of the new Alfred Infectious Diseases Program. This service is one of first in the country to offer end-end capacity in bacteriophage therapeutics for the most challenging infections. Our vision is for bacteriophage therapy to be a viable and accessible option for the treatment of complex infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens.
Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that specifically infect and kill bacteria, with no effect on human cells. Bacteria have become increasingly resistant to traditional antibiotics, and new therapies are desperately required. Infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria consistently lead to poor clinical outcomes, increased mortality, and represent a huge burden on the healthcare system. Phages are an exciting, potential treatment option for complex, AMR infections, and uniquely, they do not impact the normal host microbiome due to their high specificity for a given bacterial species or strain.
Phages are non-toxic and inexpensive, most often being derived from environmental sources. Phage therapy for human infections have been around for over 100 years in parts of Eastern Europe, but with the advent of antibiotics, research and development for phages never progressed. Now, phage therapy is being considered in many parts of the world as a treatment for a wide range of serious infections, including wound, lung, joint, intra-abdominal, urinary tract and bloodstream infections.
Our team at Monash University have the capacity to provide rapid and reproducible production of bespoke phage products and we are establishing a Phage Biobank of highly active phages that target the most common and severe bacterial infections that we see within our hospital system.
Refer your patient
Fax referral to us
We accept GP and specialist referrals to this service.
All referrals are triaged by the service according to clinical urgency. Patients requiring immediate assessment should be sent to the Emergency & Trauma Centre.
To refer your patient, complete and fax a referral to us. For urgent referrals, also contact the service Registrar to discuss the case.
To ensure appropriate and timely triage, include all demographic and clinical details as well as relevant investigation results.
If you are concerned about any delay of the appointment or if there is any deterioration in your patient’s condition, contact the service Registrar on call on (03) 9076 2000.
(03) 9076 6081
(03) 9076 6938
Clinic consultants
- Prof Anton Peleg: Infectious Diseases
- Dr Adam Jenney: Infectious Diseases, Microbiology
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