The availability of these drugs revolutionised the treatment of infections. In the past STIs spread by bacteria were often incurable and deadly. Today all it takes to treat them is a trip to the clinic and a course of antibiotics. Childbirth was very dangerous and routinely ended in death for both mother and baby. Now the risk of a woman dying in England and Wales during labour is between 40 and 50 times lower than 60 years ago.

Bacteria will continue to evolve to seek survival and we have to up our game. There hasn't been a new class of antibiotics since the 1980s and pharmaceutical companies are looking into a wide-range of alternatives – from compound from insects to nanotechnology - to develop new weapons in the continuous war against superbugs.

词汇表 infection  感染

GP (general practitioner)  全科医生，普通医师

antibiotics  抗生素

NHS (National Health Service)  全民医疗服务制度

prescription  处方，药方

microbiology  微生物学

pharmacy  药店，（此处指）药剂学

Achilles heel  致命弱点，致命伤

Darwinian natural selection  达尔文的自然选择（学说）

bacteriologist  细菌学家

mould  霉，霉菌

Petri dish  皮氏培养皿

penicillin  盘尼西林，青霉素

STI (sexually-transmitted infections)  性传播疾病

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