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TB on the rise in UK

A significant increase in the number of reported tuberculosis cases has United Kingdom health officials alarmed, BBC News reports.

The number of cases between 2004 and 2005 rose by almost 11 percent, from 7 321 to 8 113. If there is a silver lining to this, it is that the reason for the increase has been identified.

According to BBC News, 38 percent of the cases were among people from South Asian ethnic backgrounds - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. But only 22 percent of the TB cases were found in people who had come to England, Wales or Northern Ireland during the past two years, Dr John Watson, head of the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) Respiratory Diseases Department, told the BBC.

Nevertheless, the preponderant number of TB cases in the UK – 5 310 – came from people born outside the country.

Health officials said the government needed to intensify its efforts to screen the population for early detection of TB, which still can be fatal. – (HealthDayNews)

Read more:
A-Z of Tuberculosis
TB to become a global epidemic?

November 2006

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