Antibiotics

Superbugs - bacteria that resist the effects of the most powerful antibiotics - are being reported more and more frequently. Some doctors see their rise as heralding the end of the age of antibiotics. BBC News Online's health team presents an overview of the past, present and future of the 20th century's greatest medical breakthrough.

The emerging superbug
Visa is resistant to just about every antibiotic known to medicine and has been discovered in hospitals from Japan to Scotland - find out where it comes from and why it has got doctors worried.

News reports

• Window of superbug vulnerability opens
• We can stop bug, say doctors
• Superbug kills Hong Kong woman
• Superbug beats superdrug
• Salmonella superbug on the rise
• 'Don't panic over superbugs'

Media choice

The UK's first superbug
BBC Scotland's Asad Ahmed at the site of the UK's first superbug - the Royal Glasgow Infirmary

A brief history of antibiotics
Antibiotics have revolutionised medical care in the 20th century, but in recent years bugs have been winning the battle against the medical profession.

News reports

• Penicillin mould sells for thousands
• Superbug threat looms ever larger
• Action needed to prevent 'superbugs'
• Fears over antibiotic policy

Media choice

Living history
Sharon Alcock gets a close up view of Alexander Fleming's penicillin at a sale of medical instruments
Changing use
BBC Health Correspondent Richard Hannaford examines variation in European practice

Bacteria: A bug's life
Meet the most successful organism on earth, and find out why it poses a threat to humans.

News reports

• Warning over bacteria threat
• Six diseases threaten world
• Bugs play hide and seek with antibiotics
• How bacteria tell the time
• Bladder bugs beat drugs
• Infertility linked to bacterial infection

A future for antibiotics?
If superbugs eventually defeat doctors, what does the medical world have up its sleeve? BBC News Online finds out.

News reports

• Superbugs: The scientists hit back
• Scientists predict wave of cheap, new drugs
• Meet the viral bug busters
• Superbug could be conquered
• 'Switching off' disease
• Drug 'blows apart' bacteria

Media choice

Research difficulties
Douglas Georgala, chairman of the government's advisory committee on antibiotics, says the development of new antibiotics is becoming more and more difficult
The master switch
BBC Science Correspondent Christine McGourty examines the potential of a technique that "turns off" bacteria
At the cutting edge
BBC Science Correspondent Pallab Ghosh hears from scientists at the 1999 British Association Festival of Science

A patient's guide
Antibiotics are useful in combating bacterial illnesses, but doctors say patients need to be aware of the do and don'ts of using them.

News reports

• Antibiotic confusion 'widespread'
• Information campaign needed on antibiotics
• 'No quick fix' for flu
• DIY treatment urged for colds and flu

Media choice

What patients want
Roger Odd and Dr Rosemary Leonard discuss why "typical patients" demand antibiotics from their doctor
Informed patients
Dr George Rae of the British Medical Association says the way forward is about education
The task ahead
Dr Simon Fradd, of the Doctor Patient Partnership, says it will take a long time to change public opinion

Managing demand
Doctors often complain they feel under pressure to prescribe antibiotics to keep patients happy. BBC Doctor Colin Thomas describes his experiences.

News reports

• Doctors accused of 'dishing out' antibiotics
  
• Curb on antibiotics

Media choice

Doctors' perspective
Richard Hannaford meets doctors' leaders, who say the problem of over-prescribing is small
Burden of responsibility
Charlotte Gann, editor of Health Which? magazine tells the BBC that doctors have to take the lead

Countryside resistance
Antibiotics have been used in farming since their introduction, but fears about the increasing risk of superbugs have led to their use being curbed. BBC Environment Correspondent Alex Kirby looks at the current state of play.

News reports

• Farmers warned of antibiotic threat
• Animals and antibiotics: The benefits
• Animals and antibiotics: The dangers

Media choice

Standard procedure
BBC Environment Correspondent Margaret Gilmore says thousands of pigs, poultry and some sheep and cattle are routinely given antibiotics
Freely available
BBC Environment Correspondent Richard Wilson investigates access to antibiotics - which farmers can get without a prescription