THE number of new TB cases in Greater Manchester rose again last year with 470 people diagnosed with the potentially-deadly disease. The figures for the region were up from 421 in 2005.
They include a South African man living in Rochdale who fled North Manchester General Hospital in October after a court ordered him to stay there and have treatment.
Portuguese football star Luis Figo is supporting a worldwide campaign led by the World Health Organisation to de-mystify and de-stigmatise tuberculosis on
World TB Day
today.
Dr Marko Petrovic, consultant in communicable disease control, said: "It is frustrating that 120 years on from the identification of TB, this is still a concern for us.
"There has been an increase in cases over the last couple of decades but we have good treatments to tackle it now.
"It's very important for health professionals at all levels and the wider public to be knowledgeable about TB, it is crucial that cases are diagnosed and treated early to stop it spreading."
Reported
Early data suggests the number of new cases diagnosed nationally last year was slightly fewer than in 2006.
In Britain, 8,496 cases were reported in 2007, down 0.7 per cent from the previous year's figure of 8,555.
Doctors say most people diagnosed with TB have links with countries where the infection is widespread, including Africa, India and China.
It is also more common among the homeless, drugs users and people with HIV or other immune disorders.
TB is almost always curable with a six-month course of antibiotics, which must be completed in order to discourage recurrence of disease or drug resistance.
It usually takes prolonged, close contact to spread the condition and most people stop being infectious after just two weeks on treatment.
Symptoms include fever and night sweats, persistent cough and weight loss.
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Showing comments 1 to 6 and replies | View All
ace, manchester (24/03/2008 at 11:30)
Pippa, Manchester (24/03/2008 at 13:22)
LookingForLogic, Stockport (25/03/2008 at 01:41)
I wish the police would come down harder on people spitting in the street too, it feels as if I have my own one-woman crusade going on to explain communicable diseases to anybody who I see spitting!
ace, manchester (25/03/2008 at 14:45)
I fully agree i see people spitting in the streets everywhere and people just ignore it?deseases are spread by people spitting as well as other ways. SPITTING SPREADS DESEASE.
The Bobelesque, MANCHESTER (25/03/2008 at 14:57)
How sad that we defeated these diseases when I was a child and now thanks (once again) to out willingness to take anybody in, they are making a comeback.
You are right about spitting ace, it's a filthy and unnecessary habit. The worst offenders are the teenage rabble that sit at the bus stop near my house. When they have gone the whole area is full of blobs spittle and sputum.
My grandma and grandad both had chronic bronchitis but managed without spitting in the street. Just another sign of the times.
Mollysue, manchester (25/03/2008 at 23:42)