British researcher: The world is witnessing the “end of modern medicine”
Sally Davies warns of little progress in curbing antibiotic resistance.
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England's former chief medical officer said antibiotic-resistant bacteria could herald the "end of modern medicine" and lead to a "disastrous end to antibiotics".
Ahead of the European Conference on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, conference spokeswoman Dr. Sally Davies cautioned that little progress in curbing antibiotic resistance poses a growing risk that has been widely monitored in recent years.
Sally added: Governments must act immediately, "and for many it is late."
The Group of Seven said last month that it plans to spend more on research on antibiotics, after Britain and the United States announced earlier that they would subsidize drug companies to develop new drugs.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says: "Infections caused by antibiotic resistance are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to treat."
The World Health Organization said that while bacteria can naturally develop resistance to antibiotics over time, the problem is that this is "accelerated" due to the misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals.
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