Drug Resistance Likely to Kill 400,000 Canadians by 2050, Report Predicts

A microbiologist works with tubes of bacteria samples in an antimicrobial resistance and characterization lab at the Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, in a file photo. AP Photo/David Goldman

VANCOUVER—Superbugs are likely to kill nearly 400,000 Canadians and cost the economy about $400 billion in gross domestic product over the next 30 years, warns a landmark report.

An expert panel cautions in “When Antibiotics Fail: The growing cost of antimicrobial resistance in Canada” that the percentage of bacterial infections that are resistant to treatment is likely to grow from 26 percent in 2018 to 40 percent by 2050.