Research progress and application of bacteriophages in prevention and control of health care-associated infections

The antimicrobial resistance has posed a severe threat to the global public heath, and the infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) severely endangered the patient' health and increased the medical burden. The persistence and transmission of pathogens in the hospital environment is one of the leading causes of health care-associated infections (HAIs). The traditional disinfection methods have been proven inadequate in completely eliminating the environmental pathogens in clinical settings. As the antimicrobial resistance continues to intensify, MDROs have become a critical challenge to the medical safety. The bacteriophages, with the high specificity, highly efficient bactericidal activity and positive effect on drug-resistant organisms, has become a major alternative strategy for treatment of HAIs, exhibiting remarkable advantages in prevention and control of MDROs, removal of biofilms, cleaning and disinfection of environmental object surfaces. They demonstrate great potential to be a novel approach for environmental disinfection in the hospital, which offers new direction for development of alternative drug.