Isolation of bacteriophages against multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Abstract

Increasing multiple drug resistant (MDR) strains of <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> has aggravated curiosity in development of alternative therapy. Bacteriophages are often considered as alternative agents for controlling <i>A. baumannii</i> infections. In the present study two lytic phages for MDR <i>A. baumannii</i> were isolated and their efficacy and host ranges were evaluated. The phages were isolated from hospital wastewater. Electron microscopy revealed that IsfAB78 might belong to <i>Myoviridae</i> and IsfAB39 to <i>Podoviridae</i>. Initial characterization of phages showed that they have narrow host range and failed to infect relative and non-relative bacteria. Both phages decreased the <i>A. baumannii</i> turbidity significantly, indicating that these isolated phages may be considered as candidates for phage therapy.