Millions of people in Europe, North America and Australia will die from superbug infections unless countries prioritise fighting the growing threat posed by bacteria immune to most known drugs, experts predicted Wednesday.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned of "disastrous consequences" for public healthcare and spending unless basic hospital hygiene is boosted and unnecessary antibiotic use slashed.

Drug-resistant bacteria killed more than 33,000 people in Europe in 2015, according to new research published separately this week.

In a landmark report, the OECD said 2.4 million people could die from superbugs by 2050 and said the cost of treating such infections would balloon to an average of $3.5 billion (three billion euros) a year in each country included in its analysis.

Michele Cecchini, lead on public health at the OECD, told AFP that countries were already spending an average of 10 percent of their healthcare budgets on treating antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bugs.

Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology