In 2013, England's chief medical officer warned of a health "armageddon" as bacteria learn to overcome antibiotics and new drugs aren't available to counteract the situation. She said "antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at a ratte that is both alarming and irreversible, similar to global warming. TGhe apocalyptic scenario is that when I need a new hip in 20 years I'll die from a routine infection because we've run out of antibiotics." Ten years later the World Health Organization warns of AMR as a top 10 global public health threat. AMR is "antimicrobial resistance." It is the same issue Professor Sally Edwards warned about in England in 2013. Projections are that by 2050 AMR will cost Canada's healthcare system $7.6 billion. The British medical journal The Lancet showed that in 2019, 1.27 million deaths were already caused by AMR. Between 2010 and 2019, 18 novel antibiotics were introduced across 14 develope nations. Only 2 of these new antibiotics are available in Canada.

Guest: Jason Tetro. Microbiologist. Author of: The Germ Guy & The Germ Code. Host of the Super Awesome Science Show on the Curiouscast network.

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