It is estimated that each year around 8500 people will be diagnosed with TB in England and Wales. The germ is airborne, spread by coughs and sneezes from individuals who have the disease.
TB develops slowly, symptoms may take several months to appear. Common symptoms seen are fever and night sweats, persistent cough, unexpected weight loss and coughing up blood. TB can be treated with a six month course of antibiotics. We have begun to see some resistance to the antibiotics used, though thankfully this is still fairly uncommon in the UK
Individuals are most at risk of catching TB if someone they live with or have close prolonged contact with has the disease. Other groups considered at higher risk include children, the elderly, diabetics, those whose immune system does not work well due to disease or medication, those who live in poor/crowded housing, those with chronic poor health, and those dependent on drugs or alcohol.
Those who work within Health and Social care are considered to be at increased risk of being exposed to TB, as are backpackers and travelers to countries where TB is still very common (Africa, South East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific countries).
Many individuals who breath in the TB bacteria and become infected, find that their immune system fights the germ and stops it growing and developing into the disease. These individuals will be infected with TB but will have no symptoms, cannot pass on TB to others and they will usually have a positive reaction on Mantoux skin test. Later in life, these individuals may go on to develop active TB disease.
The National BCG vaccination programme which used to vaccinate teenagers at school with BCG to help prevent TB has been replaced with a more targeted approach. This involves babies of 0-1 years being given BCG if they live in an area of the UK where many cases of TB are seen, or if they have a parent or grandparent born in countries that are considered high risk for TB. This means that many children and young adults are no longer routinely protected from TB with BCG vaccine.
Who needs to protect themselves?
Those who are at higher risk due to moving to a highly affected area within UK, backpacking or travelling to high risk countries and those working in Health or Social Care setting may wish to consider getting a BCG vaccine. We can offer a Mantoux skin test, which will be read after 48-72 hours, and can be followed by a BCG vaccine.
Occasionally individuals need to prove for Visa application or Occupational Health reasons that they do not have either active TB disease, or the symptom free TB infection. We can offer a simple, accurate blood test called T-SPOT to provide that information.