Benefits of Combined Phage-Antibiotic Therapy for the Control of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: A Literature Review

With the increase in bacterial resistance to antibiotics, more and more therapeutic failures are being reported worldwide. The market for antibiotics is now broken due to the high cost of developing new molecules. A promising solution to bacterial resistance is combined phage-antibiotic therapy, a century-old method that can potentiate existing antibiotics by prolonging or even restoring their activity against specific bacteria. The aim of this literature review was to provide an overview of different phage-antibiotic combinations and to describe the possible mechanisms of phage-antibiotic synergy.

Automated summary

With the rise in bacterial resistance to antibiotics, the number of therapeutic failures is increasing globally. The high cost of developing new molecules has led to a broken antibiotic market. Combined phage-antibiotic therapy, a century-old method, offers a promising solution by enhancing the activity of existing antibiotics against specific bacteria through prolonging or restoring their effectiveness.