Gurney, James; Sam P. Brown; Oliver Kaltz and Michael E. Hochbergm

Antibiotic resistance is a global issue that currently causes increased morbidity and mortality. It is crucial to expand and explore alternative strategies to combat the crisis. The use of bacteriophages, the viruses of bacteria, is one of the many alternative strategies being considered and developed. Bacteriophage therapy conventionally works by reducing the number of bacteria at a given site in a manner analogous to antimicrobials. Bacteriophage therapy also shares the same problem as conventional antimicrobials: the rapid emergence of resistance. A well reported phenomenon of bacteriophage interactions is the reduction of virulence of phage-resistant bacteria, and recent studies have shown that resistance to phage can also reduce resistance to antimicrobials. Phage therapy could be used as a selective force against pathogenic surface factors, manipulating the evolution of the pathogen in favour of the infected patient.