HUMAN VS SUPERBUG: TOO LATE TO TURN THE TIDE?
Video transcript: Introduction with Liz Bonnin
LIZ BONNIN:
One of the gravest threats the human race is facing is the crippling of a major weapon in the fight against infection.
Throughout our history we faced a constant battle against the often lethal infections and diseases caused by bacteria. Seventy years ago we took the upper hand for the first time. Antibiotics revolutionised medicine and ushered in an age where bacterial infections were easily treatable. But now bacteria are fighting back.
More and more strains are becoming resistant to existing treatments thanks to our chronic overuse of antibiotics. Through everything from unnecessary prescriptions to their widespread use in modern farming, individual strains of bacteria have become resistant to multiple antibiotics – giving rise to superbugs.
Some experts believe our current antibiotics could become ineffective within 20 years, taking us back to a time when routine operations and simple infections often resulted in death. So is this really the future we are facing because of our misuse of antibiotics, or is there something we can do before it’s too late?