Antibiotic Overuse Creates Superbugs

Experts predict that more than a million people will die by 2025 due to antibiotic resistant superbugs.

15:57 22 April 2015

More than 400,000 people have already died in the last decade when large-scale antibiotic resistance has emerged. Experts from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases warned that the number will double by 2025. 

 

Murat Akova, president of Escmid, said: "The really worrying aspect is that no one yet really knows just how great this problem is. The real issue is that all the existing antibiotics we have are becoming less effective as people continue to use them unnecessarily.

 

"Deaths in the UK alone could very easily triple over the next 10-years. But focusing only on the death toll by antimicrobial resistance obfuscates the gigantic problem of not being able to offer patients many of the modern healthcare victories.

 

"The rapid increase in antimicrobial resistance in Europe and the world is jeopardising modern healthcare. And resistance is spreading to the UK from across other European nations."

 

Escmid said that 10,000 people already die in the UK alone due to infections. Their latest forecast is based on the available data on infection deaths and known rates of microbial resistance in different parts of Europe.