Combinations of Bacteriophage Are Efficacious against Multidrug-Resistant and Enhance Sensitivity to Carbapenem Antibiotics.

The Gram-negative ESKAPE bacterium has become a pathogen of serious concern due its extensive multi-drug resistance (MDR) profile, widespread incidences of hospital-acquired infections throughout the United States, and high occurrence in wound infections suffered by warfighters serving abroad. Bacteriophage (phage) therapy has received renewed attention as an alternative therapeutic option against recalcitrant bacterial infections, both as multi-phage cocktails and in combination with antibiotics as synergistic pairings. Environmental screening and phage enrichment has yielded three lytic viruses capable of infecting the MDR strain PAO1.