UK Friday 'cough' warning of 'Victorian disease' resistant to antibiotics

UK Friday 'cough' warning of 'Victorian disease' resistant to antibiotics UK Health Security Agency said people need to be aware of symptoms adding 'please speak to your GP if you think you could be at risk' UK health officials have issued a symptoms warning after releasing new figures showing a potentially lethal ‘Victorian’ disease is a ‘serious public health issue’. UK Health Security Agency said that tuberculosis (TB) notifications in England are not going down - latest figures from 2025 show 5,449 cases - it was 5,485 the previous year. And in a new warning Dr Esther Robinson, Head of the TB Unit at UKHSA said it was vital people know the symptoms so people can get treated enough. And she said that ‘not every cough’ is a cold or Covid 19. TB is a bacterial infection most commonly spread from person to person through the air by coughing and sneezing. Treatment can be complicated and involves prolonged courses of antibiotics. In recent decades TB has become increasingly resistant to many antibiotics. The UKHSA said infections need to be tackled to get the rate down. Dr Robinson said: “While notifications haven’t increased in the past year, TB remains a serious public health issue. It’s important that everyone is aware of the symptoms to ensure prompt testing and treatment, so that we can bring TB levels down significantly. “If you have moved to England from a country where TB is more common, please make sure you know the symptoms of TB so you can get promptly tested and treated through your GP surgery. “Not every persistent cough, along with a fever, is caused by flu or COVID-19. A cough that usually has mucus and lasts longer than 3 weeks can be caused by a range of other issues, including TB. Please speak to your GP if you think you could be at risk.” TB is the world’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. It is a bacterial infection that most frequently affects the lungs, which is when it is infectious. Officials are working on a TB National Action Plan. It will focus on improving the prevention, detection and control of TB in England. 82.3% of TB notifications were in people born outside of the UK. Rates remained highest in urban areas, with the most notifications reported in London (20.2 per 100,000). People living in the most deprived areas were 6.9 times more likely to be diagnosed with TB than the least deprived areas in 2025. The UKHSA said: “The proportion of people with multi-drug resistant TB notifications was also similar, with 2.1% of people in 2025 found to be affected compared to 2.2% in 2024. This type of TB requires longer and more complex treatment, placing additional burdens on health services.” Tuberculosis was called the “white plague” or “white death” primarily because of the extreme anemic pallor and ghostly skin whiteness of infected individuals. TB is referred to as a “Victorian disease” because it reached an epidemic peak during the 19th-century Victorian era, particularly in rapidly industrialising and urbanised parts of Britain. Active Pulmonary TB (Lungs) symptoms When TB bacteria multiply in the lungs, common symptoms include, says NHS - A persistent cough that lasts for more than 3 weeks - Coughing up mucus (phlegm), which may contain blood - Chest pain or pain when breathing or coughing - Breathlessness that gradually gets worse - High temperature (fever) and night sweats - Extreme tiredness and fatigue - Loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss - General feeling of being unwell