Table 1.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Phage Therapy in the Treatment of Bacteria

Advantage	Disadvantage
Active against gram-positive and gram-negative	Bacteria are able to develop resistance against phages
Rapid isolation and lower development costs	When the target organism is not present the phages will not replicate
Relatively free of side-effects	Phages may carry antibiotic-resistance genes or bacterial virulence factors
Widely used in food preservation	Phages are perceived by the immune system as invaders and can be rapidly removed
Disrupt bacterial biofilms, MDR, and XDR	There are no clear official guidelines
Phage therapy can affect the immune system with functions such as decrease in mean C reactive protein values and leukocyte counts	Phage rapidly can lyse bacteria that may lead to the release of endotoxins and super antigens and induce an inflammatory cascade leading to multiple organ failure
Reduces the damage caused to the normal microbial community	The genome of the majority of phages has been unraveled and the function of many of these genes is still unknown.
Avoids the potential overgrowth of the secondary pathogen	It is difficult to extrapolate from in vitro phage growth data to in vivo prospect
Rapidly distribute throughout the body	The phage specificity for bacterial host causing needs to exact host bacterium be identified
Absence of cross-resistance to antibiotics	lytic phages should be used exclusively
Recognizing different cell surface receptors Cocktail of phages has some advantages, such as the higher impact on targeted bacteria	Diagnosing an infectious agent in clinical microbiology laboratories is very time-consuming for using specific bacteriophage solution for patient
	Phage treatment is not covered by public health insurance
	Phages are not accepted as pharmaceutical drugs