Optimizing bacteriophage treatment of resistant Pseudomonas

Abstract

WHO declared antimicrobial resistance a top threat to global health; while antibiotics have stood at the forefront in the fight against bacterial infection, the increasing number of multidrug-resistant bacteria highlights a need to branch out in order to address the threat of antimicrobial resistance. Bacteriophages, viruses solely infecting bacteria, could present a solution due to their abundance, versatility, and adaptability. For this study, we isolated new phages infecting a fast-mutating Pseudomonas alcaligenes strain capable of forming resistance within 30 h. By using a sequential treatment approach of adding one phage after another, we were able to curb bacterial growth significantly more compared to state-of-the-art phage cocktails.