Opinion: We need new antimicrobials to prevent the next infectious disease crisis
Imagine if scientists had seen Covid-19 coming years in advance yet did little to prepare. Unthinkable, right?
Yet that’s exactly what’s happening with another infectious disease crisis — the one caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi. So-called superbugs already kill more than 700,000 people each year. And the World Health Organization warns that by 2050 the annual death toll could reach 10 million if we don’t use the time to get prepared.
