TB on the rise among the poor of London

[Hannah Bell]

Tuberculosis, the "white plague", is returning to London, which risks the sort of serious outbreaks that occurred in New York and California in the 1990s, an article in the Lancet medical journal warns today.

Nowhere else in Europe have TB rates continued to rise, says Dr Alimuddin Zumla of the department of infection of University College London medical school. "The incidence in the UK has gradually increased over the past 15 years," he writes. Last year more than 9,000 cases were reported in the UK, with nearly 40% in London. "This pattern is striking when compared with the general decline in other European countries," he says.

TB thrives in areas of deprivation. The increase in numbers has been largely in people who were not born in the UK, but in 2009, most of them (85%) had lived in the country for at least two years. Many are living in conditions familiar in Dickens's time. "Poor housing, inadequate ventilation and overcrowding – conditions prevalent in Victorian Britain – are causes of the higher tuberculosis incidence rates in certain London boroughs," writes Zumla.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/17/tuberculosis-thriving-victorian-london

[skepticscott]

1. Far more serious

are the highly drug-resistant strains that are becoming more prevalent. The tea-bagging middle and upper classes have yet to see much effect from these yet, but when they do, guess who they will be running to for help? The drug companies? Not. Big daddy government, without a doubt.

[madrchsod]

2. a problem in southern california...

untreated drug resistant tb among the mexican and central american population.