Who hasn’t been prescribed antibiotics by a doctor – for a chest infection or perhaps a sore throat? It’s terrifying to think that these infections can become life threatening if the antibiotic drugs needed to treat them stop working.
This is known as antimicrobial resistance. It occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines. Infections become harder to treat. This increases the risk of diseases spreading, severe illness and even death.
Antibiotics were first used just over 100 years ago. Since then they have changed medicine and given people a chance to have a much longer life.
