Antimicrobial
resistance could soon claim more lives than cancer and traffic accidents
combined, according to a new report by the UK government. By 2050, scientists estimate the
death toll from drug-resistant infections may rise from today’s 700,000 (a low
estimate) to an astonishing 10 million per year.
It’s hard to
imagine a world in which a simple cut or scrape could lead to a deadly
infection with no cure. But this “post-antibiotics era is fast approaching, propelled in large
part by the abuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs to treat disease
and promote growth in animals on factory farms. In the United States, 80
percent of all antibiotics are used on farmed animals, turning farms into breeding
grounds for antibiotic-resistant superbugs, which can cross species to humans
through direct contact or via bacteria-laden
meat or other animal
products.
The report’s
authors find that over the next 35 years, 300 million people—roughly equal to
the current population of the United States minus Texas—are expected to die
prematurely because of drug resistance. The monetary impact over this time
period will be equivalent to losing an entire year of global economic output.
Developing
countries, the authors note, will be hardest hit; those with high rates of
malaria, HIV, or TB will see progress towards eradicating these illnesses
thwarted by increased drug resistance.
“Left unchecked,
the current trend in rising drug resistance is a crisis of global scale,
the report concludes.
Protect yourself
from infection and do your part to ward off this looming catastrophe by
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