World TB Day 2002 - In the News

The Observer, UK
Headline: Doctors put on TB alert
Sunday March 24, 2002
Gaby Hinsliff, chief political correspondent

Doctors will be put on the alert tomorrow for new cases of TB amid fears that outbreaks of the deadly disease are being misdiagnosed.

Patients who fear they might be infected will be urged to come forward for treatment in a Government campaign to combat the stigma attached to the disease because of its age-old links with poverty.

The scourge of Victorian Britain has been making a comeback for the past decade, with TB cases rising by 12 per cent last year. While many affected are immigrants from countries where the disease is endemic, the bug is now being found in middle class professionals - triggering concerns that GPs are not recognising the symptoms.

A 16-year-old girl died earlier this year after Whipps Cross hospital in London failed to diagnose her persistent cough as TB. She was treated for pneumonia and discharged after four days, only to be rushed back to hospital as her condition worsened. In other cases TB is thought to have been mistaken for asthma.

Doctors will be reminded by the Department of Health of the symptoms - night sweats, persistent coughing, high temperature and weight loss - and high-risk groups.

The campaign features singer Patti Boulaye and footballer John Fashanu and is aimed at high risk areas - mainly cities with large African and Indian communities, where travel to parts of the world where TB is endemic is more frequent.

'There is a stigma attached to TB so people both don't recognise symptoms, but also will not see a GP when they have suspicions,' said Health Minister Yvette Cooper.

'There is also a concern that health professionals need more information - 50 years ago they would have known the symptoms but today even in London a GP may only see one case a year.'

Tuberculosis principally attacks the lungs, but can also cause meningitis and a form of blood poisoning.

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