Phage therapy for secondary bacterial infections with COVID-19

Nannan Wu; Li-Kuang Chen; Tongyu Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.coviro.2021.11.001

Phage therapy for secondary bacterial infections with COVID-19

Curr Opin Virol. 2022 Feb:52:9-14. doi: 10.1016/j.coviro.2021.11.001. Epub 2021 Nov 9.

Authors

Nannan Wu¹, Li-Kuang Chen², Tongyu Zhu³

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Institute of Phage, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: wunannan@shphc.org.cn.
² Shanghai Institute of Phage, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Pathology, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan.
³ Shanghai Institute of Phage, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Zhongshan Hospital Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

With more than 200 million people affected and 4.5 million deaths so far, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become one of the greatest disasters in human history. Secondary bacterial infections (SBIs) are a known complication of viral respiratory infections, and are significantly associated with poorer outcomes in COVID-19 patients despite antibiotic treatments. The increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria and the decreasing options available in our antimicrobial armory worsen this crisis and call for alternative treatment options. As natural killers of bacteria, phages are recognized as promising alternatives to antibiotics in treating pulmonary bacterial infections, however, little is known about their use for treating SBIs during virus pandemics such as COVID-19. This review highlights the situation of SBIs in COVID-19 patients, and the distinct strengths and limitations of phage therapy for their containment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Bacterial Infections* / therapy
COVID-19*
Humans
Phage Therapy*
SARS-CoV-2