36 English patients infected by antibiotic-resistant superbugs

UNTREATABLE superbugs have affected 36 patients in England, figures obtained by The Telegraph show.

Public Health England (PHE) recorded 36 cases of pan-resistant-infections between April 2013 and February 2018, including the patient who picked up “super-gonorrhoea” in south-east Asia which was resistant to the two most commonly used antibiotics.

PHE defines a pan-resistant-infection as a bacteria resistant to every antibiotic it tested as part of its standard antibiotic panel. In practice, this means the infection is resistant to all commonly used antibiotics.

The figures emerged as Lord O’neill, the former Goldman Sachs banker who led a Government-commissioned review into superbugs, accused senior ministers of a lack of leadership, adding that Theresa May had allowed the issue to fade and that actions promised had not been taken.

“It is disappointing to see that the UK Government’s global and national efforts to fight AMR [antimicrobial resistance] seem to have faded,” he said

Writing exclusively for The Telegraph online, Lord O’neill said that the UK was once seen as a leader in the field. “The government should put this part of ‘global Britain’ back at the top of its priorities,” he writes. “There has been a lot of talk, but no action.”

His review warned that if unchecked antibiotic resistance will kill 10million

‘The government should put this part of “global Britain” back at the top of its priorities’

people and the world economy could lose up to $100trillion by 2050.

Official figures suggest antimicrobial resistance claims the lives of 5,000 people a year in the UK, though experts have argued the real figure is at least double that. Global estimates suggest 700,000 are already dying each year – one person a minute.

Prof Peter Hawkey, a public health and bacteriology expert at the University of Birmingham, said: “The threat is very real. These figures are a wake up call.”