England’s chief medical officer warns of ‘antibiotic apocalypse’

Efficiency of antibiotics falling as deaths in EU and US hit around 50,000 annually from infections drugs can no longer treat

The "antibiotic apocalypse" may already be upon us. According to Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, 50,000 people are dying every year in Europe and the US from infections that antibiotics have lost the power to treat.

Davies has been at the forefront of the UK's efforts against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and taken on a global leadership role. She has described the threatened loss of antibiotics to the world as on a par with terrorism and climate change.