Global superbug crisis from antibiotics overuse ‘almost TOO LATE’ to stop
IT IS “almost too late” to stop a global superbug crisis caused by the overuse of antibiotics in our food, a leading expert has warned.
By ALIX CULBERTSON
Express.co.uk
Tue, Dec 22, 2015
Scientists have a “50-50” chance of salvaging existing antibiotics from bacteria which has become resistant to its effects, according to Dr David Brown.
And displaced migrants entering Europe from the war-torn Middle East could intensify the crisis in the West due to countries such as Syria having a lack of a healthcare system.
Dr Brown, director at Antibiotic Research UK, whose discoveries helped make more than £20billion in pharmaceutical sales, said efforts to find new antibiotics are “totally failing”, despite significant investment and research.
It comes after a gene was discovered which worryingly makes infectious bacteria resistant to the last line of antibiotic defence, colistin (polymyxins).
The immunity to the colistin antibiotic is considered to be a “major step” towards completely untreatable infections and has been found in both humans and pigs in England and Wales.
Public Health England said the risk posed by the mcr-1 gene was “low” but was being monitored closely.
An integral array of medical procedures rely to some extent on access to effective antibiotics, including performing surgery, treating infections and even travelling abroad safely.
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