Cases of Tuberculosis remain high

24 March 2009

Cases of Tuberculosis (TB) in the United Kingdom have increased by 2% from 8,496 cases reported in 2007 to 8,679 in 2008 according to new provisional figures released today by the Health Protection Agency to mark World TB Day.

TB is an infection caused by a bacteria that usually spreads in the air when a person with a TB infection in the lung coughs or sneezes. It usually affects the lungs, but can affect other parts of the body too. The TB infection develops slowly in the body, and usually takes several months for symptoms to appear. Symptoms include:

Fever and night sweats
Persistent cough
Losing weight
Blood in your sputum (phlegm or spit) at any time

London continues to have the most cases with 3,415 new diagnoses reported in 2008 which is 39% of the total for the UK and an increase of 2% on 2007. The West Midlands region reported the second highest number of cases with 1,027 for 2008; an increase of 9% from 2007 when 941 provisional cases were reported.

Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, a TB expert at the Health Protection Agency's Centre for Infections, said:

"The number of cases of TB in the UK is still too high. The key to halting the health burden which this disease causes in the UK is the prompt diagnosis and treatment of infectious cases. Various myths still exist about TB and how it is spread. The Agency is committed to raising awareness of the disease in a bid to see fewer cases occurring and old-fashioned attitudes diminished."

TB is curable. It is usually treated with a six-month course of antibiotics, which MUST be completed in order to discourage recurrence of disease or drug resistance.
Symptoms include: fever and night sweats, persistent cough, weight loss and blood in sputum.
It is unusual to catch TB simply by sitting next to an infected person on the train. The infection normally requires prolonged and close contact in order to spread from person to person.
Only about a quarter of TB cases in the UK have the 'open' form of the disease which is potentially infectious for others. Most cases present little or no risk to others.
TB affects children and adults differently. It is very uncommon to catch TB from a child with the disease.
At TB clinics where the disease is treated, there is no prescription charge - the treatment is free for the patient.

Prof Maria Zambon, Director of the Agency's Centre for Infections, said:

"TB is preventable and treatable - health professionals and the general public alike should be mindful of these key, simple facts about TB.

"The Agency is working closely with health professionals to continually develop ways of controlling TB, including the provision of a specialist network of laboratories which test TB to identify strains and check for drug resistance.

"We know the burden of TB exists mainly in high risk groups including hard-to-reach communities in the UK. We are working with the Department of Health on outreach programmes to tackle directly the areas and groups with the highest numbers."

"We should consign this major global killer infection to history."
Ends

Notes to editors:

1. Provisional new tuberculosis cases by region/country, UK, 2005-2008

					% change in numbers
Region/country	2005	2006	2007	2008	05 - 06	06 - 07	07 - 08
East Midlands	563	579	574	535	3%	-1%	-7%
East of England	474	446	359	474	-6%	-20%	32%
London	3541	3445	3333	3415	-3%	-3%	2%
North East	136	145	199	172	7%	37%	-14%
North West	749	764	759	758	2%	-1%	0%
Northern Ireland	76	61	65	59	-20%	7%	-9%
Scotland	362	384	401	455	6%	4%	13%
South East	508	645	727	692	27%	13%	-5%
South West	268	280	273	268	4%	-3%	-2%
Wales	164	168	193	167	2%	15%	-13%
West Midlands	938	984	941	1027	5%	-4%	9%
Yorkshire & the Humber	591	654	672	657	11%	3%	-2%
UK	8370	8555	8496	8679	2%	-1%	2%

2. For further information about TB and to download a copy of this year's newsletter please visit http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1191942150134?p=1191942150134

3. Media enquiries to 020 8327 6690 / 7098 / 6647 / 7080 / 7097

Last reviewed: 25 February 2010