Gram-Positive Pneumonia: Possibilities Offered by Phage Therapy

• Published in: Antibiotics (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 8; p. 1000
• Main Authors: Fernández, Lucía, Cima-Cabal, María Dolores, Duarte, Ana Catarina, Rodríguez, Ana, García-Suárez, María del Mar, García, Pilar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 18.08.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Bacteria; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial infections; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Gram-positive bacteria; Host-pathogen interactions; Infections; Mortality; new therapies; Pandemics; phage therapy; Phages; Pneumonia; Public health; Review; Staphylococcus infections; Staphylococcus aureus; Streptococcus infections; Streptococcus pneumoniae; United States > US
• ISSN: 2079-6382; 2079-6382
• DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10081000

Pneumonia is an acute pulmonary infection whose high hospitalization and mortality rates can, on occasion, bring healthcare systems to the brink of collapse. Both viral and bacterial pneumonia are uncovering many gaps in our understanding of host–pathogen interactions, and are testing the effectiveness of the currently available antimicrobial strategies. In the case of bacterial pneumonia, the main challenge is antibiotic resistance, which is only expected to increase during the current pandemic due to the widespread use of antibiotics to prevent secondary infections in COVID-19 patients. As a result, alternative therapeutics will be necessary to keep this disease under control. This review evaluates the advantages of phage therapy to treat lung bacterial infections, in particular those caused by the Gram-positive bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, while also highlighting the regulatory impediments that hamper its clinical use and the difficulties associated with phage research.