Antibiotic misuse may lead to a sick society, experts say

Simple infections may no longer be treatable by antibiotics because of the rise of so-called ‘superbugs’, according to two Irish experts in that branch of medicine.

The rapid development of more effective antibiotics, combined with their misuse, has led to the human body becoming in danger of developing resistance to them, say consultant Fidelma Fitzpatrick and GP Nuala O’Connor who will outline the consequent dangers to human health at a lecture in Dublin this evening.

“The overuse of such drugs means that bacteria can figure out how to protect themselves from antibiotics, which are designed to kill them,” said Dr Fitzpatrick, consultant microbiologist at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.