More infections could soon become resistant to antibiotics, which will have a more severe impact on the world than the COVID-19 virus, according to England's former chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies.
More than four years into the COVID-19 pandemic, new strains of the virus continue to surface, prolonging the world's battle with the pandemic. However, the virus' human impact will be made to "look minor" should more superbugs—or disease-causing bacteria that are not only contagious but also resistant to modern-day medicine and other interventions—evolve, according to Davies, who now works at the United Kingdom's special envoy on antimicrobial resistance.
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Newsweek previously reported that superbugs infect more than 2 million people in the United States every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), killing at least 23,000.
If superbugs continue to develop, there will be a widespread, devastating impact, Davies told The Guardian.
"It looks like a lot of people with untreatable infections, and we would have to move to isolating people who were untreatable in order not to infect their families and communities. So it's a really disastrous picture. It would make some of Covid look minor," Davies said.
Newsweek reached out to the CDC via email for comment.
Superbugs develop when an infection becomes resistant to medicine. As the infection or illness evolves with each new occurrence, it can develop a resistance to modern medicine and eventually become immune to it—posing a serious and sometimes fatal threat to whoever is infected.
The frequent use of antibiotics has contributed to the development of superbugs, which can occur with infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The clinic advises people to only use antibiotics when they're truly needed.
In addition to antibiotic misuse and overuse, the Cleveland Clinic said that some infections become spontaneously resistant to medications. Others are passed on when an infected person spreads the contagion to another person.
By becoming resistant to medication, superbugs eliminate some treatment options and contribute to a delay in treatment for other patients. Because of this, patients battling a superbug could face the risk of severe illness and death, serious side effects, hospital stays, and other ailments, Cleveland Clinic warned.
Antibiotics aren't just overused to cure infections in humans, either. They're also used in many farm animals to prevent infection, contributing to drug-resistant infections.
However, superbugs don't just pose a resistance to antibiotics and other treatment options. They're also hard to kill with strong disinfectants, like bleach, commonly used in U.S. hospitals.
Davis has a front-and-center look at the destruction caused by superbugs, which killed her goddaughter in 2022 after she became infected with a Mycobacteroides abscessus, an infection related to tuberculosis and leprosy. The infection is resistant to multiple drugs.
People most at risk for antimicrobial-resistant infections include babies, seniors, people required to take antibiotics over a long period of time and immunocompromised people.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
