Medicine is on the brink of moving back into the dark ages in which many cancer treatments might be halted along with operations such as hip replacements.
That is the stark warning from a city GP if patients continue being prescribed antibiotics at the current rate.
Dr Paul Danaher, is the "antibiotic guardian" for Leicester City clinical commissioning group (CCG).
His job is to try and cut use of the medication which is steadily becoming resistant to more infections.
He said: "There is mounting resistance in bacteria which we have been treating with antibiotics for the past 60 or 70 years.
"We have constantly been trying to keep ahead but the bacteria is evolving and changing and there has been no new antibiotic of significant impact in the last 20 years or so.
"If we carry on at this rate in 15 to 20 years we will back to before the days of penicillin."
Dr Danaher, a GP at the Groby Road Medical Centre in Newfoundpool, added: "We use heavy duty antibiotics to fight infections in people having chemotherapy because their immune system is wired out.
"If a hip or knee replacement joint becomes infected and antibiotics are not effective the joints will fall out and the alternative is amputation."
Dr Danaher warned: "People will die from illnesses such as pneumonia."
Doctors wrote a total of 241,418 prescriptions for antibiotics for city residents between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014, at a cost of nearly £1 million.
And in the six months from April 1, 2014, to the end of September figures show 113,291 prescriptions have been issued.
The cost to date is running at £481,440.
Dr Danaher said that it is not just patients who have helped to cause the impending crisis.
"It is also to do with the way we, as doctors, have used antibiotics.
"We have not been as cautious as we should have been.
"I think that over the years we have prescribed antibiotics for patient 'just in case its bacterial'.
"GPs are under pressure to prescribe antibiotics but we have put ourselves there.
"It is now taking a long time for patients to get used to the idea that they do not need antibiotics for viral infections and that they will not play any part in helping the person to recover."
For most people if they have a cough, sore throat and runny nose it indicates that it is a viral infection and antibiotics would have no effect.
Antibiotic drops for ailments like conjunctivitis are said to shorten the infection by just a few hours.
Dr Danaher said: "The vast majority of people can get by without antibiotics - we need to tough it out.
"It is a global, not just a local issue. By only using antibiotics when it is appropriate to do so we can slow down resistance and make sure these life-saving medicines remain effective when we need them most."
