EXPERT ADVISORY: As Auditor General reports on effort to fight superbugs, leading researchers warn that without a solution, antibiotic disaster lies ahead
HAMILTON, April 27, 2015: As tomorrow's report from the Auditor General of Canada weighs the federal government's effort in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, leading researchers in the fight against superbugs warn that Canadians cannot afford to lose the battle.
"Running out of effective antibiotics is a real possibility that presents a grave danger, not only in Canada, but around the world," says Gerry Wright, director of McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research. "We need to do more right now to develop new antibiotics, squeeze more life from the ones we already have, and to use all antibiotics more effectively, both in humans and in animals."
"It's essential that the international research community come together to address this critical issue," says Eric Brown, Canada Research Chair in Microbial Chemical Biology. "There has been an explosion of resistance to antibiotics and our arsenal of antibiotics is gradually losing its effectiveness."
Wright and Brown are available to preview the report today and comment after its release tomorrow.
A respected British report suggests that as many as 10 million more people could die each year by 2050, as bacteria continue to develop ways to overcome existing antibiotics.
The IIDR is an international hub for scientists who are developing potential solutions to the antibiotic crisis with high-throughput equipment and growing libraries of thousands of compounds taken from the soil and from inventories of existing compounds.
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To arrange an interview with Gerry Wright or Eric Brown, or to book the campus TV studio, contact:
Michelle Donovan
Public Relations Manager
Office of Public Relations
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 22869
Wade Hemsworth
Public Relations Manager
Office of Public Relations
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 27988