Tens of thousands of lives threatened by rise in drug-resistant superbugs, experts warn

Tens of thousands of lives are at risk from the rise in drug-resistant superbugs, which could make currently routine procedures and surgery increasingly dangerous, health experts have warned.

A forecast drawn up for the government estimates that a bacterial blood infection from a superbug resistant to existing drugs could affect a total of 200,000 patients - with up to 80,000 of those infected dying from the disease.

The report by the National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies argues that the number of infections complicated by superbugs is expected to rocket over the next 20 years.

Both politicians and scientists have previously warned of the need to find a cure for resistant infections.

Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that superbugs posed a "very real and worrying threat" which could send medicine "back into the dark ages".

And last year, Prof Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical examiner for England, said the world "simply cannot afford not to take action" to tackle the "alarming" rise in antibiotic resistance.