Health chiefs issue urgent warning over surge in deadly ‘Victorian disease’ that is easily mistaken for a winter cold

Tuberculosis, a serious lung infection also called the ‘Victorian disease’ that kills one in six people it infects and can cause victims to cough up blood, is on the rise in England.

Official data shows cases increased 11 per cent by the end of last year reaching 5,000, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) report.

It means that roughly one in every 25,000 people in England has the infection, though this rises to almost one in every 5,000 people in London. 

Four out of five of new cases were among people born outside the UK, the highest proportion since 2000.  

People originally from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Romania were biggest non-British born groups among tuberculosis (TB) patients.

Health chiefs are now urging people with potential TB symptoms not to dismiss the signs, which include a continuous cough, and can be easily mistaken for common winter infections such as a cold or flu.

Their warning comes as separate NHS data shows a 350 per cent surge in flu cases in hospitals in England. 

Dr Esther Robinson, the head of UKHSA’s TB unit, urged people not to dismiss potential TB symptoms, especially if they were a recent arrival to Britain.  

‘TB is curable and preventable, but the disease remains a serious public health issue in England,’ she said. 

‘If you have moved to England from a country where TB is more common, please be aware of the symptoms of TB so you can get promptly tested and treated through your GP surgery.’

‘Not every persistent cough, along with a fever, is caused by flu or COVID-19. A cough that usually has mucus and lasts longer than 3 weeks can be caused by a range of other issues, including TB. Please speak to your GP if you think you could be at risk.’

Last year’s TB surge marks a worrying reversal in Britain’s TB cases.

Cases peaked at over 8,000 in 2011 but declined to just over 4,000 in 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic, but since then cases have increased year-on-year.

Alarmingly, there has been a rise in the proportion of TB cases involving strains resistant to the drugs typically used to treat them.

In 2022 about one in 100 cases of TB were of drug-resistant strains. This increased to over one in 50 last year. 

Potential symptoms of TB include a cough that lasts more than three weeks and produces blood, a high temperature, night sweats, loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss. 

While a TB test is requirement in the UK for immigrants from countries where the infection is more common, it can lay dormant, making it undetectable.  

Earlier this year World Health Organisation (WHO) chiefs warned of a global TB surge with a record 8.2million cases last year.

TB is treated with antibiotics and as such is rarely deadly in countries like Britain. However, globally it is estimated to kill one in six people it infects with deaths typically occurring years after infection. 

Tuberculosis is spread by the coughs and sneezes of those infected and most often emerges in the lungs, although it can get into other parts of the body. 

However, some studies have found it can also be spread passively by infected people simply breathing, even if they show no symptoms. 

Early symptoms include coughs, fevers, night sweats and weight loss.

But severe tuberculosis infection can kill by destroying the organs from the inside, causing them to bleed and fill with liquid.

Tuberculosis is particularly dangerous for immunocompromised people, like those undergoing chemotherapy, as well those who are generally more vulnerable such as young children and the elderly. 

A jab called the BCG vaccine protects people from getting tuberculosis, but it’s only given to those at higher risk of getting the infection.