Cases of ‘world’s most deadly infection’ surge 10% in ‘disturbing wake-up call’ – with under 5s at greatest risk

EUROPE was rocked by fresh tuberculosis (TB) fears as cases in children have jumped by 10 per cent within a year.

Global health chiefs warn that TB, dubbed the ‘world’s deadliest infection', is surging due to treatment failures, calling it a “disturbing wake-up call”.

The latest European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report revealed that over 7,500 TB cases were recorded in children under 15 in the WHO European Region in 2023.

This marks an increase of more than 650 cases from the previous year.

Kids under five now make up 4.3 per cent of new and relapsed cases, “signifying an increase for the third year in a row,” thehealthbodies said in a statement.

Relapsed TB is when the infection comes back after treatment, usually because the medicine wasn’t finished.

TB is a debilitating bacterial infection often linked to the Victorian era, when it was called “consumption” due to the way it seemed to slowly waste away the body.

But even today, it persists, killing around 1.25 million people globally each year.

Experts are sounding alarms over the rise, fearing that untreated cases could fuel the growth of drug-resistant strains, making the disease harder to combat.

In the report, Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Director of the ECDC, said: “The time to act to end TB is now.

“With just five years to meet our 2030 targets, it is critical that Europe renews its focus on prevention and timely, effective treatment.”

The WHO has a Sustainable Development Goal target of eliminating TB as a public health threat by 2030.

This includes reducing TB cases by 80 per cent and deaths by 90 per cent, with a focus on improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

But TB cases have been steadily rising since 2019, with the trend worsening due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted testing, diagnosis, and treatment services.

In England, cases of the disease surged by 13 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year, with 5,480 cases reported, up from 4,850 in 2023, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Despite this increase, England remains a low-incidence country for TB, with 81.5 per cent of cases in 2024 occurring in people born outside the UK.

The new report suggests one in five children with TB in the EU/EEA may not have finished their treatment, which the experts warn could lead to a rise in drug-resistant TB, also called DR-TB.

Despite improvements in diagnostics and treatments, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, pointed out: “Ending TB is not a dream. It’s a choice.

“But the current TB burden and the worrying rise in children with TB serve as a reminder that progress against this preventable and curable disease remains fragile.”;

The ECDC and WHO stress the urgent need for stronger TB prevention efforts and better access to treatment, especially for high-risk populations like children.

“We cannot afford to be complacent,” Dr Kluge added. “The cost of inaction today will be paid by all of us tomorrow.”;

What is TB?

As well as being the world's most infectious disease, TB is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, having surpassed coronavirus.

It's most infectious when it affects the lungs.

Symptoms include a cough for more than three weeks, feeling exhausted, a high temperature, weight loss and loss of appetite.

It also be found in other parts of the body, like the brain, heart, abdomen, glands, bones and nervous system.

It's spread through close contact with people who have the infection and are showing symptoms (active TB).

When someone with active TB coughs, they release small droplets containing the bacteria

If you regularly breathe in these droplets over a long period of time you can catch it.

It can be life-threatening, but most cases can be successfully treated withantibiotics.

People are at higher risk of the disease if they are in close contact with a person known to have the disease, travel to countries with high rates of TB, are homeless, are addicted to drugs, have a weakened immune system or are in prison.