Government report warns antibiotic resistance outbreak ?could kill 80,000′

A new government report has highlighted antibiotic resistance as one of the most serious potential civil emergencies that could hit the UK.

The National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies suggests that an epidemic of an antimicrobial resistant blood infection would affect 200,000 people, with two in five of these individuals potentially dying.

Antimicrobial resistance was identified as an increasingly serious issue that will only get worse over the next 20 years. It follows a 2014 report predicting that an extra ten million people a year could die by 2050 if the problem is not tackled soon.

It was noted that much of modern medicine could become unsafe without access to reliable antibiotics, including surgery, some cancer treatments and organ transplants.

The report said: "Without effective antibiotics, even minor surgery and routine operations could become high-risk procedures, leading to increased duration of illness and ultimately premature mortality."

Concerns such as these are why efforts are being made to limit the spread of antimicrobial resistance within the NHS, including measures to encourage doctors to avoid prescribing antibiotics except in cases where they are absolutely necessary.