The chief medical officer for England is warning that there is a growing resistance to antibiotics. Professor Dame Sally Davies says the problem is a ticking time bomb and is as serious as terrorism.

She claims routine operations could become deadly in just 20 years time.

She has described antibiotic resistance as a "ticking time-bomb" and says there should be better incentives for the pharmaceutical industry to develop new drugs.

Better protection of current stocks

She has made 17 recommendations to politicians and policy-makers in Britain including better hygiene in schools, hospitals, care homes and public places.

She also called for better protection of current stock of antibiotics and is urging UK GPs to prescribe antibiotics only when absolutely necessary.

A new infectious disease has been discovered every year for the last 30 years but there have been almost no new classes of antibiotics discovered since 1987.