A "bank of feces" to facilitate fecal transplant patients suffering from
chronic intestinal infections was created in the Netherlands, told AFP
on Saturday a professor at the university launched the project.
"Our 'banco de caca' will facilitate access to fecal transplants for physicians and hospitals in the country," said Ed Kuijper, professor of microbiology at the University of Leyden in the western Netherlands.
It is at this university that the "Dutch bank donor droppings" that will collect, process and distribute the material necessary for faecal transplants was installed.
This procedure is often "the only solution" - according Kuijper - for people with chronic intestinal infections, especially the "Clostridium difficile", a bacterium that sometimes develops after prolonged use of antibiotics.
"Some antibiotics destroy the intestinal flora, allowing the bacteria to spread. Fecal transplants allow transplanting healthy bacteria, which then re-colonize the intestine and recreate a healthy intestinal flora, "says the professor.
About 3,000 cases are reported annually in the Netherlands, according to the university. In about 5% of these cases a chronic disease develops, and three to four stools transplants are carried out each month throughout the country.
In some cases, the infection can cause severe diarrhea, inflammation of the colon and intestinal perforations, can be fatal.
"Donors must be in good health and not be too fat or skinny and have a good intestinal flora," says Ed Kuijper. Donations, which are anonymous and unpaid, are collected by the donor himself at home.
They are then taken to the bank feces, which transforms them into "transplantable products," especially with the help of a powerful freezer.Transplants are done through the nose or rectally.
However, as Professor Kuijper says "donate their excrement it is not yet fully accepted" but believes it is "a matter of habit."
"Donors offer patients the opportunity to receive a safe treatment for a serious illness," he explains.
AFP