In June 1999, a 33-year-old woman walked into a San Francisco hospital complaining of acute pain in her legs. The day before, she had what she thought was a flu: fever, dizziness and abdominal pain. Within two hours of her admission to hospital, she was dead, and unrecognisable. The diagnosis: flesh-eating bacteria. Although one of the most basic forms of life on earth, through years of complacency by the drug industry and over prescription by doctors, bacteria now pose a deadly threat to humankind. The Killers Within describes the full horror of our most primitive but potentially most deadly enemy - and man's attempts to stop it. From the political wrangling to the personal anecdotes of doctors on the frontline, The Killers Within brings to life the story that no one can afford to ignore - the story of a killer that is turning every hospital into a hot zone.