Protecting Newborns from Multidrug-Resistant Infections: The Emerging Role of Bacteriophages

Newborns may suffer from dangerous bacterial infections caused by life-threatening multi-drug resistant pathogens. Thus, despite bactericidal capabilities of antibiotics, microorganisms are known to circumvent this therapy, and a new, more effective type of remedy is needed. An increasingly recognized strategy for addressing these challenges is the use of bacteriophages-viruses infecting bacteria-collectively referred to as phage therapy. Nonetheless, the research considering phage therapy amongst newborns is still at a pioneering stage, owing to the scarcity of systematic investigations and the prevalence of case-study data, leaving room for further discovery and analysis. This review summarizes the information needed to understand this complex issue, considering the description of pathogens causing infections affecting newborns, the formation of the early microbiota and phageome (defining its composition followed by an influence on immune system development), and the possible use of bacteriophages in the treatment, which may be complicated by ethical concerns.