Superbugs resistant to antibiotics cause more than 33,000 deaths in the EU each year, according to a new study. Scientists say the picture has become worse since 2007, with Italy and Greece by far the hardest hit.
A study by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimates that around 33,000 people in the EU die each year after becoming infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The analysis, published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, warned that the burden of these pathogens is similar to HIV, flu, and tuberculosis combined.
"Infections due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria are threatening modern healthcare," the researchers wrote. They tracked a significant increase in the toll from 2007 when there were around 25,000 deaths.
Infants and the elderly were most at risk, with three-quarters of infections contracted in hospitals and health clinics. The researchers also recorded vast differences between European countries.
