Modern medicine as we know it will be finished if antibiotic resistance is not halted, according to England's chief medical officer.

Public understanding of antimicrobial resistance needs to improve, said Dame Sally Davies.

Our failure to complete prescribed courses of antibiotics was exacerbating antimicrobial resistance, said the Wellcome Trust's Mark Henderson.

"Germs are exposed to just enough antibiotics to acquire some resistance, but not enough to kill them," he said.

"It's almost as if you're vaccinating them against the disease."