[New perspectives of the phage therapy]

A solution to the problem of the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains can be the use of rational phage therapy. In the past, bacteriophages (phages) were often used for the treatment and prevention of infections and unlike antibiotic therapy, phage therapy caused almost no serious side effects. While previously several preparations containing whole phage particles were available for phage therapy, currently, the isolation of well characterised and purified phage components with antibacterial properties opens up new options for the management of intractable infections caused primarily by the bacterial genera Enterococcus, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Listeria, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Shigella, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus. In addition to human and veterinary medicine, the phage therapy principles also find use in the agriculture and food industry. Recent and former clinical studies as well as numerous animal model experiments have supported that phage therapy is an effective and safe alternative of antibiotic treatment of bacterial infections.