Beyond Antibiotics: New Therapeutic Approaches For Bacterial Infections.
Clin Infect Dis. 2016 Mar 29;
Authors: Hauser AR, Mecsas J, Moir DT
Abstract
The utility of conventional antibiotics for the treatment of bacterial infections has become increasingly strained due to increased rates of resistance coupled with reduced rates of development of new agents. As a result, multi-, extensively-, and pan-drug resistant bacterial strains are now frequently encountered. This has led to fears of a "post-antibiotic era" in which many bacterial infections will be untreatable. Alternative non-antibiotic treatment strategies need to be explored to ensure that robust pipeline of effective therapies are available to clinicians. In this review, we highlight some of the recent developments in this area, such as the targeting of bacterial virulence factors, boosting of host immune mechanisms, utilization of bacteriophages to kill bacteria, and manipulation of the microbiome to combat infections.
PMID: 27025826 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]