World Health Organization (WHO) chiefs have warned that tuberculosis is now “the leading infectious disease killer”, with a record 8.2 million cases last year.
Known as consumption during the Victorian era, officials warn that the early stages of the illness resemble a cold or flu, but can kill one in six people it infects.
The WHO said the rise meant tuberculosis became “the leading infectious disease killer in 2023, overtaking Covid-19”.
While global cases have skyrocketed, the number of deaths from the disease recorded by the WHO actually fell from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25 million in 2023.
However, since tuberculosis can take years to kill, the true impact of the recently recorded increase is likely not to be felt until some time in the future.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The fact that tuberculosis (tuberculosis) still kills and sickens so many people is a scandal, when we have the tools to prevent, detect and treat it.”
Cases are also rising in Britain. The latest data shows that cases for 2024 increased by seven percent compared to last year, following the disease’s peak year.
British health officials were so concerned about last year’s rise in cases, which was up 11 percent year on year, that they launched an investigation to find out why.
This graph shows the number of tuberculosis infections recorded in England by quarter of each year; Data for 2024 suggests the numbers could be even higher in four years.
If trends continue, 2024 could eclipse last year’s more than 4,800 cases in the UK, which was the highest figure recorded since 2017.
It marked an ongoing setback Britain had taken in the fight against tuberculosis, with cases having largely fallen from peaks of 8,000 cases recorded in 2011.
Last year’s increase was so shocking that it led health officials to issue warnings for persistent cough or flu-like symptoms to be monitored by a doctor.
Dr Esther Robinson, head of the tuberculosis unit at the UK Health and Safety Agency (UKHSA), said at the time: “Not all persistent coughs, along with fever, are caused by flu or the virus. Covid-19.
“A cough that normally has mucus and lasts more than three weeks can be caused by a variety of other problems, including tuberculosis.”
According to the latest UKHSA report, eight in 10 traceable TB cases occurred in people who were not born in Britain, a figure similar to that of 2023.
Since tuberculosis is more common in some parts of the world, particularly in urban and disadvantaged areas.
Cases are known to be imported into the UK and, due to symptom subtitles, can go undetected for years.
Tuberculosis is transmitted through the coughs and sneezes of infected people and most often emerges in the lungs, although it can reach other parts of the body. Microscopic view in the photo of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli, the organism responsible for causing the disease.
Bacterial lung infection cases soared to a record 8.2 million in 2023, according to the World Health Organization. Here, a family member adjusts the oxygen mask of a tuberculosis patient at a tuberculosis hospital in Hyderabad, India, earlier this year.
Tuberculosis is transmitted through the coughs and sneezes of infected people and most often emerges in the lungs, although it can reach other parts of the body.
However, some studies have found that it can also be transmitted passively when infected people simply breathe, even if they do not show symptoms.
Early symptoms include cough, fever, night sweats, and weight loss.
But a severe tuberculosis infection can kill by destroying organs from the inside, causing them to bleed and fill with fluid.
Tuberculosis is particularly dangerous for immunocompromised people, such as those receiving chemotherapy, as well as those who are generally more vulnerable, such as young children and the elderly.
An injection called the BCG vaccine protects people from contracting tuberculosis, but it is only given to those who are most at risk of contracting the infection.