‘Antibiotic resistance to kill 90,000’

MORE than 90,000 Britons will die due to bugs resistant to treatment with antibiotics over the next three decades, estimates suggest.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned that superbug infections will kill around 2.4 million people across Europe, North America and Australia by 2050 unless more is done to limit antibiotic resistance.

This includes around 1.3 million deaths across Europe.

The report estimates that 90,045 Britons will die over the next 30 years from infections which are resistant to treatment.

Simple measures such as hand washing and more prudent prescriptions of antibiotics could avert some of the deaths, the authors said.

Better hygiene, ending the “over-prescription” of antibiotics and enhancing rapid testing for patients to ensure they are being prescribed the right drugs are some of the measures that could overcome the threat, it said.

Three out of four deaths could be averted by spending just $2 (£1.50) per person a year, the OECD calculated.

A short-term investment would save money in the long run, they added, saying that dealing with antimicrobial resistance complications could cost up to $3.5bn (£2.6bn) each year on average across the 33 countries included in the analysis.

Resistance is already high and projected to grow even more rapidly in low- and middle-income countries. The report warns that southern Europe risks being particularly affected.