Life in a world without antibiotics

Maggie Koerth 6:44 am Thu Nov 21, 2013

In March 1938, writer Maryn McKenna's great uncle died, horribly, from an illness that began with just a couple of cuts and scrapes on his shoulder. He was only 30 when he died. If his injury and infection had happened just five years later, penicillin would likely have saved his life. McKenna uses this story to lead us into a piece about a post-antibiotic world … what it would look like, and what's already happening to the people who come face-to-face with antibiotic resistance. It's a chilling read. And a necessary one.

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