The UK is the only Western European country still seeing a rise in the number of diagnosed cases of tuberculosis (TB) despite a recent WHO report suggesting that global cases are starting to decline.
Whilst being a curable disease, there are more than 9,000 people nationwide diagnosed with TB each year. Almost half of those are in London, which has seen a 50 per cent increase in cases since 1999.
Professor Ali Zumla, head of the department for infectious diseases and international health at University College London, cites international travel as a major factor and has urged the Government to take action. “TB is not just a disease of poor developing nations,” he says. “It has to be on the radar for everyone.”
A global problem
Improvements in nutrition, healthcare and treatments were thought to have ended the prevalence of TB in the 1980s. However, since governments assigned the disease a lower level of priority, it has found a foothold in the Western world once again.
Prof Zumla explained: “The health service has neglected TB. It was thought of as a disease of Victorian times but what people forget is that infectious diseases do not respect international boundaries.”
One of the major contributing factors is migration - people travelling from outside the UK and bringing the bacteria with them. Therefore, the level of TB in the UK is a reflection of a global problem.
East Africa and Asia account for the majority of global tuberculosis cases. However, Brent, in West London, currently has a higher rate of TB than Azerbaijan.
TB, which kills three people every minute worldwide, is spread in much the same way as flu - by spending prolonged periods breathing in the airborne bacteria from an infectious individual. This means that it is often marginalised groups or concentrated populations who are at most risk of infection.
TB advocacy: the missing piece of the puzzle
Tuberculosis can also lie dormant in individuals, only to be reactivated when the immune system is suppressed. This means that many people could be carrying the bacteria without knowing it.“Two billion out of the seven billion or so people on the planet may have the microorganism TB waiting to be reactivated”, says Zumla.
Along with his work on TB, Prof Zumla has also spent time conducting research into HIV, where new cases have dropped globally by 21 per cent from their peak in 2005. He believes that, if the UK is to be able to turn the tide on TB then the community response needs to be similar to that seen among HIV sufferers.
“It’s because of the social aspects – the people in the HIV community have taken the bull by the horns and have raised awareness,” says Zumla.
“[With TB] the advocacy of the disease is the major piece in the puzzle that is missing.”
You can learn more about TB with the Elements guide to tuberculosis.
Image courtesy of sandrabermudez