Overuse of antibiotics in Europe is building widespread resistance, and threatening to halt vital medical treatments such as hip replacements, intensive care for premature babies and cancer therapies.
Antibiotics are needed in all these treatments to prevent bacterial infection. But drug-resistant bacteria are a growing problem in hospitals worldwide, marked by the rise of superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA).
Dominique Monnet, of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control's scientific advice unit, said the "whole span of modern medicine" is under threat because diseases are become resistant to antibiotics, rendering the drugs useless.
The six most common multi-drug-resistant bacteria -- often referred to as superbugs -- cause around 400,000 infections a year in Europe, killing around 25,000 people and using 2.5 million hospital days a year.