SUMMARY
Due to the growing number of bacterial strains that are resistant to conventional antimicrobial therapy, there are efforts to find out new and effective ways to treat infections. A very promising alternative seems to be phage therapy, which uses natural predators of bacteria - bacteriophages. The discovery of these viruses dates back to 1917, but the development of phage therapy was influenced by the discovery of antibiotics, which were spreading more rapidly and effectively in medical practice.

Using phage preparations or cocktails has several advantages in comparison with conventional antibiotic treatment. Phage therapy has its tradition in the eastern part of Europe, but its renaissance begins even in the western part. The promising results of several in vitro and in vivo studies, as well as clinical cases in which phage therapy has been successfully applied, indicate a high positive potential for the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacterial strains by phage therapy.
Key words: bacteriophages, antibiotic therapy, antimicrobial resistance, phage therapy.
Lek Obz, 2021, 70 (11): 418-424

Marek STRAKA 1,2, Martina DUBINOVÁ 1,3, Adriána LIPTÁKOVÁ 1

1 Mikrobiologický ústav, Lekárska fakulta, Univerzita Komenského a Univerzitná nemocnica, Bratislava, prednosta
doc. MUDr. A. Liptáková, PhD., MPH
2 Katedra mikrobiológie a virológie, Prírodovedecká fakulta, Univerzita Komenského, Bratislava, vedúci katedry prof. RNDr. H. Bujdáková, CSc.
3 Vysoká škola zdravotníctva a sociálnej práce sv. Alžbety, Bratislava, poverený rektor prof. MUDr. J. Benca PhD.

Cite:
STRAKA M., DUBINOVÁ M., LIPTÁKOVÁ A.: Phage therapy as an alternative to conventional antibiotic treatment. Lek Obz, 2021, 70 (11): 418-424