Cases of Tuberculosis (TB) in the UK have increased by 2% from 8,496 cases reported in 2007 to 8,679 in 2008 according to new provisional figures released by the Health Protection Agency.
London continues to have the most cases with 3,415 new diagnoses reported in 2008 which is 39% of the total for the UK and an increase of 2% on 2007. The West Midlands region reported the second highest number of cases with 1,027 for 2008; an increase of 9% from 2007 when 941 provisional cases were reported. Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, a TB expert at the Health Protection Agency’s Centre for Infections, said: “The number of cases of TB in the UK is still too high.” Professor Maria Zambon, director of the Agency’s Centre for Infections, added: “We know the burden of TB exists mainly in high risk groups including hard-to-reach communities in the UK. We are working with the Department of Health on outreach programmes to tackle directly the areas and groups with the highest numbers.”
