What would the world be like without antibiotics? | BBC Ideas

Our entire medical system relies on antibiotics. They've added, on average, about 20 years of life to everybody. But we are facing what's sometimes called "the silent pandemic". We explore the growing problem of antibiotic resistance - and what can be done about it.
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[@Graspd]

Very informative. Thank you BBC✨

[@bbcideas]

You are welcome! 😍

[@simone222]

Thank you for this edifying feature. It reminded me of my mother's health travails last April. She had an extended stay at the hospital after the results of the pneumococcal culture came out five days from admission. She was on intravenous piperacillin tazobactom previously. But according to her pulmonologist, there was no oral cefepime which worked well on Klebsiella, so her stay was extended for the intravenous administration of cefepime.

[@bbcideas]

Thanks for your kind comment Simone. Hope all is well with your mother now 🤞

[@cheapmovies25]

I probably would have been dead like three times if it wasn't for those things

[@cheapmovies25]

The nightmare scenario though is that not only them becoming ineffective but then being ineffective with like superbugs that we've created because of them

[@robertskolimowski7049]

Too bad they failed to mention the huge role the agriculture industry plays in increasing the antibiotic resistance, e.g. meat from mass production farms is ridden with antibiotics, by consuming it we become (somewhat inadvertently) part of the problem.

[@bbcideas]

Hi Robert, we didn't have time to explore all angles in this short video unfortunately, but you are right that it would be interesting to explore the role of agriculture and the livestock industry

[@robertskolimowski7049]

@@bbcideas Cheers for your response.

[@winstonoboogie2424]

Bacteriophage technology arrived in 1917. The only reason we use antibiotics is because it hit the market first. Bacteriophages can be designed to go after something specific without destroying other important organisms.

[@mlbh2os211]

We need to seriously investigate bacteriophages, they may be our only hope.

[@vineshkum7707]

Beyond life without antibiotics impossible

[@BlackJacketJones]

My spider bite wont go away completely and I’m almost done with my antibiotics. I’m nervous

[@naza8366]

Doctors usually do not prescribe antibiotics for colds and sore throats but it is so painful when you have a sore throat so I take antibiotics by myself.

[@TiffanyALuna]

Antibiotics should only be used as a _last_ resort, so that the next bacteria doesn't become *immune* to the antibiotics. For sore throats, use natural remedies like the garggling salt and drinking honey lemon teas 🍵💕 etc.

[@MariaMartinez-researcher]

Life without antibiotics is what history and literature is full of. Kings, presidents, great artists and scientists, dying from things nowadays nobody cares about. Ask Jean Baptiste Lully if you don't believe it.

[@c-aadityaahlawat4725]

BBC can you please tell me the names of doctors in the video

[@Anna_Rozanska]

The names are listed in the video. Look closely for the white titles when the people speak: Dame Sally Davies - UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance (around 0:34) Dr Anna Barnard, Imperial College London (around 1:03) Manuel Razo-Mejia, Evolutionary Biologist, Stanford University (around 3:11). Good day/ night to you!

[@c-aadityaahlawat4725]

@@Anna_Rozanska thank you so much for the information

[@bbcideas]

@@Anna_Rozanska Thanks for pulling those out!

[@lisab9734]

The amount of antibiotics I got as a child has definitely damaged my health now I’m older but at the same time I would have died a few years ago if I hadn’t of had antibiotics when I got an infection during an operation

[@tinksmith4964]

This is scary stuff. 😨

[@bbcideas]

If you enjoyed this, you might be interested to watch some of our other science videos here (all made in partnership with The Royal Society) 👉kzbin.info/aero/PLMrFM-P68Wh66PrWXATFrysAXMJVnfJH2

[@horrormysterieswithmr.s7881]

I'm a Corpse, can i take Antibiotics?

[@user-cw3wm9lx7w]

1. planrs cannot be infected by human viruses, theh might be able to transmit though. 2. antibiotics aren’t very profitable.

[@ricardocasanova4713]

Is this British English?

[@bbcideas]

Yes!

[@imwithstupid00011]

Wellcomevfoundation and imperial college?? Seriously... farrer and ferguson??? You seriously screwed the uk over! Where are you now?

[@danbee6103]

Good day if youre reading this!🫶🌤😺❕ Loved this video as it pertained to my interests, on a unprecedented level. May youre day be filled with joy and safety, i beseech you🤘. One last thing…. I would venture to say, if you were to discover additional sources and they were found near the icky stuff, then is that not a ideal place to build? Likely already been done, but is it some chemical polarization in the dish?

[@bbcideas]

Good day to you too! Thanks for watching and for your kind comment