AS tuberculosis returns to England, a new study has revealed it may be easier to catch the disease than we once thought.
Dutch scientists now believe that even people who show no signs of the disease can transmit the killer bug.
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People can pick up the infection just by breathing near someone who has the bug Credit: Getty
Until now, health experts believed that TB germs were spread by coughing, laughing or talking, singing or sneezing.
But a new study has found that four out of five people who test positive for the killer tube do not suffer from a cough – previously thought to be a key symptom of TB.
However, even those who don’t cough carry the infectious disease in their saliva, which can be released into the air when someone talks or breathes, they found.
That means people can pick up the infection just by breathing near someone who has the bug but isn’t showing any obvious signs, they said
Read more about tuberculosis
“Persistent cough is often the entry point for diagnosis,” said study author Professor Frank Cobelens of Global Health at the University of Amsterdam Medical Center.
“But if 80 percent of TB patients do not have TB, then that means the diagnosis will be made later, probably after the infection has already been transmitted to many others, or not at all,” he added.
The latest research, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, analyzed data on more than 600,000 people in 12 countries across Africa and Asia, some of whom had TB.
They found that 82.8 percent of the patients did not have a persistent cough, and 62.5 percent did not cough at all.
A quarter of those who do not cough have a large amount of dangerous bacteria in their saliva and are likely to be highly contagious.
Professor Frank is now urging doctors to consider new ways of diagnosing the disease so that cases are not missed.
“When we take all these factors into account, it becomes clear that we need to really rethink big aspects of how we identify people with TB,” he said.
“It is clear that current practice, particularly in the most resource-poor settings, will miss a large number of TB patients.”
Cases on the rise
Cases of Victorian disease rose by more than 10 per cent last year, according to the UK’s Health Safety Agency – from 4,380 in 2022 to 4,850 in 2023.
Health officials are trying to “investigate the reasons” behind this sudden rise in infections.
Anyone with a persistent cough and fever, especially those in groups at higher risk of contracting tuberculosis, is encouraged not to dismiss their symptoms as a cold.
In the year 2022, 7.5 million people will be sick with tuberculosis in the world – which is the highest number ever recorded.
The World Health Organization (WHO) previously said this was because many people could not be diagnosed or receive treatment during the Covid quarantine.
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A separate report found that drug-resistant TB cases increased by three percent between 2020 and 2021.
What is TB?
Tuberculosis remains one of the deadliest diseases in the world and the second leading infectious killer after Covid-19.
The bacterial infection is spread through the air when people carrying the bug cough, sneeze or spit.
Symptoms include a cough that lasts for more than three weeks, feeling exhausted, high fever, loss of weight and appetite.
It can be life-threatening, but most cases can be successfully treated with antibiotics.
The infection can spread to your brain, heart, abdomen, glands, bones and nervous system.
People are at greater risk of the disease if they are in close contact with a person known to have the disease, travel to countries with high rates of tuberculosis, are homeless, drug dependent, have a weakened immune system, or are in prison.
There is a jab that protects against the bug, but vaccination programs have been phased out in several countries over the past 20 years.
6 symptoms of tuberculosis to watch out for
Tuberculosis is a potentially serious condition, but it can be cured if treated with appropriate antibiotics.
- A persistent cough that lasts more than three weeks and usually produces mucus, which may be bloody
- Shortness of breath that gradually worsens
- Lack of appetite and weight loss
- High temperature
- Night sweats
Source: NHS
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