Resistance movement: the battle to beat the antibiotic-proof superbug

  • 9 years ago
Antibiotics have saved countless lives since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, but their indiscriminate use means some diseases have become resistant to existing drugs.

At a nursing home in Utrecht, The Netherlands, Futuris met a woman whose condition is typical of this troubling phenomenon. Joke Leeuew was holidaying in Greece with her husband Gerard when she had a stroke. Things took an even worse turn when, at a local hospital, she picked up an infection that made her treatment much more difficult.

“She was hospitalised at the nursing home, where they found that she was carrying a dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” explained Gerard. “She had to be quarantined, along with four other people who, by that time, were also infected. And although she didn’t have any bacteria-related symptoms, it was very difficult for her because her friends and family couldn’t come to visit and many people were afraid to get close.”

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be life threatening

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