One of the biggest health threats of modern time is the rise of the ‘superbugs.' These are bacteria that have evolved to become resistant to all of the antibiotics that doctors have in their arsenal. This makes them highly dangerous, as simple infections could turn deadly, fast. So deadly, in fact, that some experts are likening the impact of these superbugs to climate change.
If we don't do anything, scientists estimate the economic cost would be $100 trillion by 2050. That's $100,000,000,000,000, folks! On the population scale, superbugs could dwindle the numbers by killing one person every 3 seconds.
Given this staggering statistics, scientists are hard at work globally to steer the population into an alternate outcome. The first step? Dramatically reduce the aggressive use of antibiotics unnecessarily. Furthermore, we need to find more efficient ways to diagnose and treat people with infections, wiping out bugs before they get a chance to mutate into superbugs.