Phage therapy in a lung transplant recipient with cystic fibrosis infected with multidrug-resistant Burkholderia multivorans

There is increased interest in bacteriophage (phage) therapy to treat infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. A lung transplant recipient with cystic fibrosis and Burkholderia multivorans infection was treated with inhaled phage therapy for 7 days before she died.

This case of clinical failure of nebulized phage therapy highlights the limitations, unknowns, and challenges of phage therapy for resistant infections.