Resistance to antibiotics 'growing at alarming rate'

Older adults have been warned to reduce their reliance on antibiotics due to the fact the drugs are becoming less effective.

According to chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies, the ineffectiveness of antibiotics against potentially fatal bacteria is growing at a rate as alarming as climate change.

"Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at a rate that is alarming and irreversible - similar to global warming," she was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

Dame Sally added that older adults need to stop taking antibiotics to treat mild infections as a result of this.

It is claimed that more people who are diagnosed with hard-to-treat infections such as multi-resistant E coli may die due to the reduced effectiveness of antibiotics.

Dr Cliodna McNulty, a microbiologist at the Health Protection Agency, said older adults ought to stop expecting their GP to give them antibiotics as it puts doctors under pressure to prescribe them unnecessarily.

This comes shortly after secretary of state for health Jeremy Hunt stated the UK needs to use technology more to become a world leader.

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