80% cut in antibiotics entering Thames is needed to avoid surge in superbugs

The amount of antibiotics entering the River Thames would need to be cut by as much as 80 per cent to avoid the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs', a new study has shown. It found that across three-quarters of the Thames catchment, the antibiotics present, due to effluent discharge, were likely to be at levels high enough for antibiotic-resistant bacteria to develop.