TB: return of a preventable disease

Tuberculosis (TB) is a vaccine-preventable illness against which millions of children have been protected thanks to the BCG vaccine but the disease has made a steady comeback in recent years.

TB is a potentially serious infectious disease primarily affecting the lungs. Despite advances in treatment, TB remains a major causes of illness and death worldwide, especially in Africa and Asia.

Since the 1980s, rates of TB have increased, fuelled by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the emergence of drug-resistant strains of the TB bacteria. [Click here to read more about tuberculosis.]

The World Health Organisation says that in the European Region alone, TB causes 49 new cases and kills 7 people every hour.

Of particular concern to health authorities in Europe is the rise in lethal drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) which is the WHO says is spreading at an alarming rate and threatens the lives of thousands of people.