Diseases caused by "superbugs" that have grown resistant to antibiotics pose an enormous threat to public health, experts say. Dominique Monnet of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) states that if this wave of antibiotic resistance continues unimpeded, doctors will not be able to perform medical treatments such as organ transplants, hip replacements, cancer chemotherapy, intensive care and neonatal care for premature babies. Antibiotics are needed to prevent infection in these treatments but bacteria like MRSA are killing about 25, 000 people a year in Europe and approximately 19,000 people a year in the United States. On top of the risks to future treatments, Monnet said the costs of antibiotic resistance are already hurting — and may hit healthcare budgets across the European Union yet harder if the problem is not addressed. The ECDC estimates that superbug infections cost around 900 million euros a year in extra hospital costs, and a further 600 million euros a year in lost productivity. Sarah Earnshaw of the ECDC states that doctors often fold under patient pressure to prescribe antibiotics for viruses or colds, even though antibiotics do not work against viruses like flu and colds. This overuse of antibiotics is creating the pandemic of superbugs. To read more about this issue, please click here.