Superbug fears as doctors warn cases of drug-resistant illnesses are on the rise

Record levels of drug-resistant illnesses are being treated in hospitals – fuelling superbug outbreak fears.

Bugs that can’t be killed by antibiotics have led to a surge in NHS cases, with a third more than five years ago.

A total of 90,173 were declared last year and there has been a steady increase since 2014-15, when there were 64,293 admissions.

Experts warn the rise has been caused by over-prescribing antibiotics.

The British Infection Association’s Dave Partridge said that taking the drugs for things not treatable by antibiotics or that would get better on their own was an unnecessary risk.

There were 90,173 cases of drug resistant illnesses last year (Getty)

"It’s driving resistance, without there being any benefit," he said.

"You’re encouraging that resistance without actually achieving anything in terms of patients."

He said we should follow our doctors’ advice, and not take antibiotics for the common cold or other viruses.

But he told how hospitals had also helped the growth in antibiotic resistance, with broad-spectrum “catch-all” drugs chosen to help beat infections quickly. Antibiotics are essential to treat serious bacterial infections such as pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis and E.coli.

They also help to ward off infections during chemotherapy, caesarean sections and other operations.

But while vital for treating life-threatening bugs, they are often used to treat less serious illnesses.

Last year Public Health England warned of 165 new antibiotic-resistant infections every day in 2018.

The news comes after the Government last year published a five-year action plan for controlling antibiotic-resistant infections by 2040.

Plans include cutting the number of drug-resistant infections by 10 per cent or 5,000 by 2025, reducing the use of antibiotics in humans by 15 per cent, and preventing at least 15,000 patients from contracting infections as a result of their healthcare each year by 2024. Mr Partridge said not acting meant a rise in resistant bacteria inside our bodies.

He added: “The danger is we’re seeing gut germs that are resistant to pretty much all the antibiotics we’ve got.”