‘Victorian Diseases’ On The Rise In The UK Including Scarlet Fever And Cholera

The number of scarlet fever cases in the UK has increased by 136% in the last five years while the number of British cases of cholera have jumped up 300% in the same period.

The number of tuberculosis cases have been dropping in recent years in the UK as a whole.

However, there are some London neighbourhoods who are experiencing a rise in TB cases and indeed have higher TB rates than Iraq, Rwanda and Guatemala, CNN reports.

Dr. Nuria Martinez-Alier, a London immunologist said: ‘There has been a huge rise in scarlet fever -14,000 [suspected] cases in the last year, the highest since the 1960s.

‘We have seen a rise in the cases of tuberculosis, we’ve seen a rise in cases of whooping cough, we have seen more measles in the last 10 years than in the last 10 years before that.’

(Picture: Thinkstock)

A University of London student, Josie Garrett, has spent two years recovering from a deadly strain of TB and urges awareness so people can get diagnosed earlier.

The 24-year-old masters student said: ‘I couldn’t work, wasn’t able to socialize, I wasn’t able to kind of live a normal life. It had a huge impact, so the idea of it being done and hopefully not coming back again is amazing

‘I think there is a general sense in this country, at least for me - which is incorrect - that infectious diseases are completely eradicated, or that we found some way to get rid of them and that they are “Victorian” illnesses.

‘My perception of TB was something Jane Austen heroines had, not someone today.’

Experts believe some of the main factors driving these scary diseases is poverty, malnutrition, lack of access to healthcare and migration from poorer countries.

Another growing concern among doctors is the reduced uptake of vaccines for adults and children for diseases such as measles and whopping cough.