World ‘at risk of returning to the pre-antibiotic era’

There are enough warning signs the world is in danger of reverting to an era when life-saving antibiotics were unavailable, a leading Irish microbiologist has warned.

Dr Fidelma Fitzpatrick, a consultant microbiologist, said antibiotics had utterly transformed modern medicine but that could all be undone by a casual attitude to their use.

Dr Fitzpatrick, clinical lead between the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the HSE, said people used to die from common injuries, such as cuts and scratches, because there was no treatment available.