Antibiotics could stop working in less than 30 years, here's why

'Antibiotics are not automatic'. This very popular advertising campaign was broadcast on a large scale in 2002 on TV channels. Set up by the health insurance to warn of the dangers of its misuse, it would seem that, several years later, the predictions of this advertising campaign are proving to be much more serious than expected.

What is an antibiotic?

Cystitis, bacterial pneumonia, and angina are diseases from which we are no longer protected by antibiotics and which could be fatal. The cause? Their excessive use has made them much less effective. Bacterial resistance to these drugs could well be the source of an imminent health hazard. But first of all, what is an antibiotic?

To take the official definition of French Health Insurance:

Antibiotics are drugs that act either by preventing the development of bacteria (bacteriostatic antibiotics) or by killing them (bactericidal antibiotics). Each family of antibiotics is only active against a specific bacterium or family of bacteria. They are not effective against viruses or fungi.

10 million deaths per year?

So where does the problem come from? According to Michael Wech, author of the documentary 'Antibiotics, the end of a miracle', broadcast on Arte, its abusive use could lead to a health catastrophe involving the death of several million people.

According to economist Jim O'Neill, former British Secretary of State explains in his report published in 2014 if no major measures are taken then:

The number of deaths linked to antibiotic resistance could reach 10 million per year worldwide by 2050. This would add up to a cost of $100 trillion in losses, which is more than the world's gross domestic product!

These apocalyptic predictions are linked to the massive use of antibiotics in the intensive livestock sector to accelerate the growth of animals. They end up on our plates and contribute to the normalization of our organisms. The bacteria targeted, therefore, learn to defend themselves in the long term.

This article was translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

-Le Monde:« Antibiotiques, la fin du miracle ? » : l’antibiorésistance, menace sanitaire mondiale

-France diplomatie: Rapport final sur la résistance antimicrobienne commandé par le gouvernement britannique

Read more:

⋙ Taking antibiotics increases risk of deadly condition, study warns

⋙ Gonorrhoea: More cases of antibiotic-resistant strain identified in England

⋙ These common foods can mess with your medicine intake