The drugs people have relied on for more than 70 years to fight bacterial infections, from everyday cuts to potentially deadly pneumonia, are becoming powerless due mainly to misuse.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than half the antibiotics used in the U.S. are prescribed unnecessarily or used improperly.

Consumer Reports has pointed to three main culprits for the weakening of antibiotic: doctors, patients and people raising animals for meat.

That misuse, which includes prescribing or using antibiotics incorrectly, breeds dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria, known as "superbugs," that can’t be easily controlled.

Alarmed by the worsening situation, health leaders are working to change how consumers use antibiotics. In a report released Tuesday, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged hospitals to prescribe and administer antibiotics more sparingly and to track and prevent hospital-acquired infections more vigorously. The Food and Drug Administration wants the meat and poultry industry to cut back on the use of the drugs. And many medical organizations, as part of a program called Choosing Wisely, have highlighted situations in which the drugs are often overused.