Antibiotic ‘armageddon’ risk unless more done to combat drug resistance

Experts in risk assessment caused by infectious disease are warning of an ‘antibiotic armageddon’ unless more is done to combat the spread of drug resistant diseases.

Deaths in the UK could triple to 30,000 over the next ten years unless more money is spent on developing new drugs and rationing of existing supplies, according to the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

Global figures predicted by ESCMID show deaths rising to 10 million by 2050, surpassing cancer, diabetes and road traffic accidents as the main cause of death.

Calling for European-wide, global and national initiatives, ESCMID president Murat Akova said: ‘No one really knows just how big the problem currently is, let alone how big it’s going to become in the future.

‘The other major problem is that bacteria do not respect country boundaries, so we are likely to see highly-resistant microbes spreading out from nations with a more severe problem.’

New updated Europe-wide figures are to be announced at the society’s conference in Copenhagen this weekend (April 25-28).

Read more on the ESCMID conference website: click here