UK might face outbreak of a drug-resistant infection: Report

LONDON: As many as 80,000 people could die if there was an outbreak of a drug-resistant infection in Britain, according to a new government report.

According to a report by the UK's National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies, about 2,00,000 people could fall victim to a bacterial blood infection if there was a widespread outbreak that existing antibiotics could not tackle.

The government report said that such an outbreak could be expected to hit 2,00,000 people - and two in five of them "might die".

The document, published last month said: "If a widespread outbreak were to occur, we could expect around 2,00,000 people to be affected by a bacterial blood infection that could not be treated effectively with existing drugs, and around 80,000 of these people might die."

"Without effective antibiotics, even minor surgery and routine operations could become high-risk procedures, leading to increased duration of illness and ultimately premature mortality," the report said.

Procedures such as organ transplantation, bowel surgery and some cancer treatments would become unsafe.

It also said the government is "leading work with international partners" to tackle this "global problem".

Prime Minister David Cameron has previously warned that the world could be "cast back into the dark ages of medicine" unless action is taken to tackle the threat of resistance to antibiotics.

England's chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, has called the problem a "ticking time bomb".

"In addition, influenza pandemics would become more serious without effective treatments," the report said.