Super bugs, the drug resistant infections,
are set to kill over 10 million people across
the world by 2050 - that's more than currently
die from cancer.
And, according to a new report, the trend is set
to get worse.
But what exactly is a super bug?
Examples are e coli, malaria and TB which have the biggest impact.
They have a bacteria that can carry genes that
allow it to survive exposure to antibiotics.
This means that infections caused by the bacteria
are harder to treat, despite them not necessarily
being more severe or infectious.
The most concerning thing is that the gene
that carries antibiotic resistance, can be
passed between bacteria, allowing for the
creation of bacteria that carry resistance
genes to many different antibiotics.
The report by the economist Jim O'Neill says
that the costs of treating sufferers would
spiral to 63 trillion pounds which is the
equivalent of around 35 years without UK contribution
to the global economy.
Politicians and scientists have warned of
the desperate need to find a cure for infections
that have become resistant.
