Killer infection on the rise in Tower Hamlets

Living on the Isle of Dogs carries the risk of catching a killer disease historically associated with the squalor of Victorian London.

According figures from the National Health Service, the London borough of Tower Hamlets has become a hot bed for the deadly lung infection tuberculosis (TB).

It is making a comeback to London and according to figures just released by the NHS, there were 158 cases in 2007 in Tower Hamlets making it the third highest notification rate in North-east London.

This is very worrying,  20 years ago I never remember TB being an issue. We were all given the BCG vaccination at school and that was usually the last you heard of it.

But between 1999 and 2009 the number of cases  soared by 50 per cent in London.

It is now  a serious health concern and in the shadow of the capital’s business centre, Canary Wharf, this thriving lethal infection is raising grave concerns of a TB time-bomb waiting to go off.

Brian McCloskey, the Health Protection Agency’s regional director for London said  TB is “one of the biggest public health problems we have”.

Experts put the surge in the incidence of the airbourne bacteria down to an increase in immigrant population, drug addicts and homeless who choose to live close to affluent business districts.

Transmitted by coughs and sneezes it does not discriminate who it infects,  it is not just the down and out.

Julian Surey, a nurse at Tower Hamlets Tuberculosis Service, took part in a screening office staff after a Canary Wharf banker fell ill with the disease last year.

He said the layout of the office with people sharing desk space and keyboards was providing the perfect environment for the disease to thrive

“They were hot-desking and it was a nightmare,” he said.

 “People did get concerned.”

“Some workers demanded to see private doctors rather than be

tested and treated by the state- run NHS.”

He said the person who sat next to this member of staff also contracted TB which can remain dormant in the body for decades and requires months of treatment with antibiotics to get rid of.

The World Health Organisation estimates one untreated carrier can infect up to 15 others each year, with a single sneeze firing out the infection in a shower of 40,000 droplets.

According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), in London 84 per cent of the 3,302 people infected in 2010 were foreign.

And Mr Surey said he’s aware of several drug-resistant cases “just south of Canary Wharf”.

Veronica White, a respiratory physician and director of the Tower Hamlets Tuberculosis Service, said there is an issue with poor compliance to drug therapy.

This presents another danger as starting a course of antibiotics but failing to finish it leads to more resistant strains of the bacteria developing.

She said: “Some patients find it difficult to stick with the antibiotics because of

side effects such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue and in some cases liver

complications.

“You never know before you start treatment how a person is going to react,”

Most people don’t realise they have the disease until a weakening of the immune system spurs the infection into action.

Symptoms include fever, night sweats, weight loss, shortness of breath,

chest pain and coughing.

A statement on the Tower Hamlets NHS website reads: “The health protection team seek to protect the health and well-being of people in Tower Hamlets from infectious diseases (eg tuberculosis, measles) and prevent harm and reduce the impact of hazards involving chemicals, poisons and emerging health threats such as bio terrorism.

“In 2007, there were 158 notifications of tuberculosis (TB) in Tower Hamlets; the third highest notification rate in north east London. In 2007, the incident rates of TB were: 13.8 per 100,000 (UK), London (43.2 per 100,000) and Tower Hamlets (68 per 100,000).  

“The majority of TB cases occurred among young adults and among non-UK born.”