Drug-resistant infections ‘could push medicine back to Dark Ages’

THE RISE of drug-resistant infections risks pushing medicine “back to the Dark Ages”, health officials have warned.

Public Health England (PHE) launched a new campaign warning that people could be putting themselves and their families at risk by taking the drugs when they don’t need them.

It comes as a new report details that bloodstream infections caused by bugs resistant to one or more key antibiotics has risen by 35 per cent in just four years – from 12,250 in 2013 to 16,504 in 2017. PHE has calculated that if antibiotics become ineffective then 3m operations and cancer treatments would become life threatening. Some surgeries and cancer treatments require antibiotics to prevent infections, including caesarean sections and hip or knee replacements.

England’s chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies warned that “without swift action to reduce infections, we are at risk of putting medicine back in the dark ages”.

PHE said that antibiotics are essential for treating serious bacterial infections but the drugs are frequently used to treat coughs, sore throats and ear aches – which usually get better without the medication.

The campaign also urges people to always adhere to a health professional’s advice on antibiotic use.

“It’s concerning that, in the not too distant future, we may see more cancer patients, mothers who’ve had caesareans and patients who’ve had other surgery facing life threatening situations if antibiotics fail to ward off infections,” said PHE’s medical director Professor Paul Cosford.