TB increase shock in Wales

Lucy Ballinger:

TUBERCULOSIS cases increased by almost 25 per cent in Wales in the past year - and it could be due to an increasing number of immigrants visiting the country.

New figures show the number of cases caused by the airborne disease leapt to 178 last year, although experts say it could be just a blip.

TB causes more deaths worldwide than any other single infectious disease, hitting poor countries the hardest.

But experts believe the rise in Wales could be due to immigrants who come from countries where the disease is common.

Figures from Welsh TB expert Dr Ian Campbell show a decrease in cases until last year, when they went up by nearly a quarter from 135 to 178.

Dr Campbell, a consultant chest physician at Llandough Hospital in Cardiff, said: "It would have been good to see 110 Welsh cases in 2004. That would show it was definitely decreasing."

TB, or consumption, is highly infectious and was rife in the 19th century, but is now curable with antibiotics.

It is spread through tiny droplets of saliva produced when an infectious person talks, coughs or sneezes - which are then inhaled by others. At risk groups include those living in poverty such as immigrants and homeless.

Dr Campbell said: "The highest incident of TB is among the immigrant population in Wales, as some come from places where there is a lot of TB and so they may develop it.

"Immigrants are contributing to about 40 per cent of the TB in Cardiff."

The BCG vaccination against TB used to be offered to teenagers at school, but the Government has abandoned this, instead immunising people in at risk groups.

Paul Sommerfield, chairman of pressure group TB Alert said: "Tuberculosis around the world is rising. And no part of the world can be isolated."

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