Eli5 what are phages (the medical alternative to antibiotics) and how do they work?

Question

Eli5 what are phages (the medical alternative to antibiotics) and how do they work?

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Answer 1

About 150 years ago, a guy named Augustus de Morgan gave the perfect answer.

“Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite ’em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum. And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on; While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.”

Phages are the lesser fleas that bite bacteria.