ABSTRACT
A. Cantani's report, declaring a loss of tubercle bacilli from the sputum and an improvement in the patient's condition, is the pioneering document of bacteriotherapy. In principle, bacterial interference is analogous to viral interference — an infection of a cell by one virus preventing superinfection by another of its kind or a similar variety or by a completely different virus. Except for minor ailments or as an occasional supplemental measure, bacteriotherapy, bacterioprophylaxis, and the similar bacteriophage therapy of Felix d'Herelle were put aside with the advent of the Antibiotic Age. Among the problems that bacteriotherapy might offer is the selection of resistant pathogens, especially if the mechanism of interference is antibiosis. Nonetheless, sophisticated, refined bacteriotherapy and bacterioprophylaxis based on the interference phenomena offer means by which the physician can combat infectious disease and exemplify the modern ecologic approach to health.
