Bacterial meningitis in adults: therapeutic challenges in the era of antibiotic resistance and the potential of bacteriophages and associated by products

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of the leading factors encouraging the development of new therapeutic strategies. The increased resistance to antibiotics can be attributed to several factors, such as early and unnecessary administration, incorrect dosing, or incomplete antibiotic treatment. One of the diseases that calls for improved understanding of this problem is meningitis, which - if ineffectively treated - may result in severe neurological complications and death. This study provides an overview of the current antibiotic strategies for bacterial meningitis along with the therapeutic challenges associated with standard treatment options. In addition, it also presents the current progress in bacteriophage research, highlighting both their potential to replace some common antibiotic therapies in the treatment of meningitis and the significant lack of clinical studies regarding most of them. The research on phage therapy targeting meningitis-associated pathogens is limited, and where it exists, it is predominantly focused on mouse models. There, its efficiency seems mostly promising. Nevertheless, comprehensive clinical trials are needed to properly determine the efficacy and safety of phage therapy in humans before it becomes a significant alternative to antibiotics.