AUSTRALIA now has the highest rate of one deadly -superbug in the world as our overuse of medicines fuels the rise of infections resistant to even the last line of anti-biotics. 
A damning new report shows antibiotic use in Australia is higher than in the UK, Canada, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, with half our population using the medi-cines every year.
It has left us with the highest rate of one deadly superbug - vancomycin resistant enterococcus faecium (VRE) - in the world.
This bacteria can live innocuously in the human intestine, but when it becomes pathogenic it causes diseases such as neonatal meningitis or endocarditis, a disease that can -destroy heart valves.
The Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Australia report 2016, released today, shows half the GP scripts written for antibiotics are for colds and flu, even though these illnesses are viruses that do not respond to antibiotics.
And as the cold and flu -season hits full swing, experts are urging Australians not to ask their doctor for an antibiotic because they could be helping the spread of deadly superbugs.
The report shows a strong seasonal variance, with some antibiotics being prescribed more in winter."Antibiotic resistance has developed because of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, and now bacterial infections that were once easily cured with antibiotics are becoming harder to treat," Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's senior medical adviser Professor John Turnidge said.