Phages in the Battle Against Antimicrobial Resistance
A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacterial Viruses".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editor
Interests: small noncoding RNAs; bacteriophage functional genomics; STEC bacteria
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a critical and growing threat to human health. In 2021, AMR was associated with 4.71 million deaths worldwide, with approximately 1.14 million of these directly caused by infections with resistant bacteria. If no effective action is taken, AMR could be responsible for up to 10 million deaths annually by 2050, surpassing deaths caused by cancer.
Beyond traditional antibiotics, a variety of non-antibiotic interventions—such as phage therapy, antibiotic enhancers, antimicrobial peptides, host-targeted treatments, nanomaterials, vaccines, antibodies, drug repurposing, and their combinations—are being explored by researchers.
This Special Issue aims to highlight recent progress in understanding resistance development among key bacterial species and to explore adjunctive and alternative strategies for managing infections caused by the most challenging multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, with particular emphasis on the application of phages as alternative solutions. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and communications, and encourage authors to share their findings, observations, and perspectives on phages infecting MDR strains, including on their biodiversity, genomic features, phylogenetic relationships, physiological properties, and interactions with hosts, including effects on human immunity and microbiota. Furthermore, advances in phage cocktail design, as well as animal or clinical trial applications against MDR strains, along with other related topics, are also welcome.
Dr. Bożena Nejman-Faleńczyk
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
- multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR)
- non-antibiotic strategies
- phage therapy
- phage characteristics
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