It's a bit difficult for today's generation to remember a world without antibiotics but it is now claimed that the generation of antibiotic-resistant, so-called 'super-bugs' is likely to result in around an extra 10 million deaths per year, costing the global economy about £64tn (http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/11/drug-resistant-infections-deaths-soar-10m-by-2050-report). There rise of antimicrobial resistance is hardly remarkable, given the reproductive rates of bacteria (it's like evolution at high speed). I accept that we have to learn to use our antibiotics more sparingly but, given their free availability without prescription in many parts of the world, I am pessimistic about our ability to stay ahead of the game.
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