Community post

Brandon Berryhill (Emory University) and colleagues published a research article exploring potential efficacy of a phage seemingly ideal for combined phage and antibiotic treatment. Although the phage PYO^Sa is able to kill S. aureus at high rates, and the host was unlikely to generate receptor site mutants, they uncovered issues that should be addressed before employing this phage clinically. The phage does not completely clear its host; rather, small colony variants emerged, which led to a return to normal bacterial densities.