TB epidemic threat 'cannot be ignored'

THE effects of a global HIV-fuelled TB epidemic are hitting Guernsey's shores. Tuberculosis is on the rise throughout the world and now health chiefs here are warning that the infectious lung disease is one 'we can't ignore'.

It is usually transmitted through coughing or sneezing. Airborne droplets enter the lungs and the bacteria multiply.

Three cases were recorded in the island last year, with 19 people seen after coming into contact with the disease, according to latest figures.

There were 182 attendances at the TB clinic, run by Dr Brian Parkin, involving 73 different people. And there has been an increase in the number of people needing skin tests or vaccinations due to work or travel requirements. The figures compare with six recorded cases in 2003.

Guernsey director of public health Dr David Jeffs said that although there was no cause for alarm, it was important to

monitor any rise.

'Although it is extra work for us, it's no larger an increase to what we've had in the past. But diseases like TB we can't ignore, they are still around and are still infectious.'

He warned that the disease could be picked up overseas and brought back to Guernsey.

'Some of it does come from abroad, some have acquired it when they are young but it has laid dormant and they have contracted it when they got older.'

TB can remain latent for up to a decade before deterioration of the immune system allows symptoms to show. It is likely that those who live under the same roof as someone with the disease could contract it and would be treated as having come into contact.

Dr Jeffs said that, by and large, treatment here was effective, though he warned of a strain of drug-resistant TB forming in Russia.

The World Health Organisation has revealed that HIV is the main reason for failure to meet worldwide TB control targets in high-risk areas. It is a major cause of death among people living with weakened immune systems through HIV and Aids. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of the HIV-fuelled TB epidemic.

The disease is also prevalent in areas with high levels of poverty: where resistance to infection is low, it is more likely to develop.

FACT BOX:

(Source: All figures from the World Health Organisation)

BLOB: Each year about 1.7million people die from TB.

BLOB: In 2004, TB deaths in Europe accounted for 7.8% per 100,000 population, compared to Africa where the figure stood at 81%.

BLOB: It causes about 13% of Aids deaths worldwide. In Africa, HIV is the single most important factor to have caused a rise in TB in the past 10 years.

BLOB: Until 50 years ago, there were no medicines to cure the disease. Now, strains that are resistant to a single drug have been documented in every country surveyed. Also, strains resistant to all major anti-TB drugs have emerged. The problem is caused by inconsistent or partial treatment.

* In 2006, the WHO launched a global Stop TB Strategy. The core of this was first introduced in 1995: since then, more than 22 million patients have been treated.