A rise in the world’s deadliest infections has been reported – it ‘looks like a cold in its early stages’, experts warn

World Health Organization (WHO) leaders have warned that tuberculosis is now the ‘leading cause of death from infectious diseases’, with a record 8.2 million cases last year.

Known as consumption during the Victorian era, officials warn that the early stages of the disease are similar to a cold or flu, but it could kill one in six people who become infected with it.

The WHO said the rise meant tuberculosis “became the leading infectious disease killer in 2023, overtaking Covid-19.”

While global cases have soared, the WHO-recorded number of deaths from the disease has actually fallen from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25 million in 2023.

However, since tuberculosis can take years to become fatal, the real impact of the newly recorded increase will likely not be felt until sometime in the future.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: ‘The fact that tuberculosis continues to kill and sicken so many people is a shame, when we have the means to prevent, detect and treat it. ‘

Cases are also increasing in Britain. The latest data shows that the number of cases for 2024 has increased by seven percent compared to last year, due to the peak season for the disease.

British health officials were so concerned about last year’s spike in cases, which was up 11 percent year-on-year, that they launched an investigation to find out why.

If trends continue, 2024 could eclipse last year’s more than 4,800 cases in Britain, which was itself the highest figure since 2017.

It marked a continued turnaround Britain had made in tackling tuberculosis, with the number of cases broadly down from a peak of 8,000 cases in 2011.

Last year’s increase was so shocking that health officials warned Britons to get any persistent cough or flu-like symptoms checked by a doctor.

Dr. Esther Robinson, head of the tuberculosis unit at the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), said at the time: ‘Not every persistent cough, along with fever, is caused by flu or Covid-19.

‘A cough that usually contains mucus and lasts for more than three weeks can be caused by a range of other problems, including tuberculosis.’

According to the latest UKHSA report, eight out of 10 cases of tuberculosis that could be detected were in someone who was not born in Britain, similar to 2023.

Because tuberculosis is more common in some parts of the world, especially in urban and deprived areas.

Cases are known to be imported into Britain and, due to the subtitled symptoms, can go unnoticed for years.

TB is spread through the coughing and sneezing of infected people and usually ends up in the lungs, although it can also spread to other parts of the body. Microscopic image of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli, the organism responsible for causing the disease

According to the World Health Organization, the number of cases of bacterial lung infection will rise to a record high of 8.2 million by 2023. Pictured earlier this year, a family member adjusting the oxygen mask of a tuberculosis patient at a TB hospital in Hyderabad, India

Tuberculosis is spread by the coughing and sneezing of infected people and usually starts in the lungs, although it can also spread to other parts of the body.

However, some studies have found that it can also be spread passively by infected people simply breathing, even if they show no symptoms.

Early symptoms include coughing, fever, night sweats and weight loss.

But a severe tuberculosis infection can be fatal by destroying the organs from within, causing them to bleed and fill with fluid.

Tuberculosis is especially dangerous for people with weakened immune systems, such as people undergoing chemotherapy, but also for people who are generally more vulnerable, such as young children and the elderly.

A shot called the BCG vaccine protects people from getting tuberculosis, but it is only given to people who are at higher risk of getting the infection.