Question: What is the most dangerous illness that can be treated with antibiotics?

Danna Gifford answered on 11 Jun 2016:

Wow, this is a tough question! There are a lot of nasty illnesses caused by bacteria that can be treated by antibiotics. Here are a few:

• Bubonic plague: In the 1300s in Europe, “Black Death” killed tens of millions of people, including about half the population of Britain at the time. Most people think it was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, aka bubonic plague. People still get plague sometimes today, but luckily it can be treated with many antibiotics.

• Sepsis: This is an illness that can happen when bacteria start growing in a person’s blood, and then can be spread to all the organs in the body. Sepsis usually starts when you have an infection somewhere that isn’t treated, and then the bacteria spread. Sepsis can be caused by many different kinds of bacteria, and must be treated with injections of powerful antibiotics.

• C. difficile: This is a bacterium that lives in the intestines of about 2-5% of people. If it grows too much, it can produce a toxin that causes diarrhea and swelling in the intestines, and can lead to death. C. difficile is becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics, but can still be treated with the most powerful ones.