zlacker

IF you can identify your specific bacterium and the phage that kills it before the disease kills you.

Antibiotics will continue to be effective precisely because they are broad spectrum. A doctor can hit you with an antibiotic before they know exactly what you have.

I am always happy to see new tools in medicine. However, I suspect phages are most going to be used initially in persistent, chronic, antibiotic resistant infections where everything else has failed.

>>bsder+(OP)
You are absolutely right, I failed to note that the increased specificity means you lose the broad spectrum effect.

I still think in the cases you describe that they could stand to replace e.g. Vancomycin - BEFORE that fails. The side effect profile for that drug is horrendous: GI bleed, neuro/sensory damage, liver damage, retinal damage etc..

It seems like a blend of phages with slightly varied activity could also reproduce the broad spectrum effect, and CRISPR is going to make that pretty easy I think.

>>dfsego+MQ
One approach might be broad spectrum antibiotics when urgent and specific bacteria undetermined. In parallel, cultures to isolate the problem, then apply the specific phage to finish the job. Seems like this would prevent or at least hugely reduce antibiotic resistance from increasing.