When COVID-19 swept around the globe, it revealed how incredibly vulnerable we are to infections for which we have no cure.
But scientists are now warning of a new kind of pandemic that could transform many treatable diseases into unstoppable killers.
In this stirring one-hour documentary, top doctors and scientists from around the world speak candidly about the alarming threat posed by superbugs. Like climate change, drug-resistance is happening gradually and getting worse every year, yet we’re doing little to stop this unfolding disaster.
Experts predict that by 2050, one person will die every three seconds from a superbug infection.
Woven throughout this episode is the powerful story of epidemiologist Dr. Steffanie Strathdee (UC San Diego) whose encounter with a superbug changed her life forever. On a holiday in Egypt, Steffanie’s husband Tom contracted acinetobacter baumannii.
This superbug would rage a war inside Tom’s body, causing him to lose consciousness for months and eventually, for Tom’s doctors to give up hope. At the 11th hour, Steffanie decided she must use her epidemiological training to find another solution.
She stumbled across a long-forgotten therapy, hidden in a journal article, that she hoped would save her husband’s life. Although this untested therapy could have the opposite effect and kill her husband, she decides it’s worth the risk.
Production credits: Presenter: Dr. Norman Swan; Director: Emma Watts; Writers: Roslyn Lawrence; Series Producer: Alice Taylor; Executive Producers: Kate Pappas & Alan Erson.
