According to a recent World Health Organisation report, tuberculosis has reclaimed its position as the biggest infectious disease killer worldwide, overtaking COVID-19.
Nearly 8.2 million individuals were newly diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2023, the highest figure since the organisation began tracking it in 1995.
However, the WHO reported that the number of tuberculosis-related fatalities fell somewhat between 2022 and 2023, from 1.32 million to 1.25 million.
According to the research, men accounted for 55% of all cases, followed by women (33%), and children (12%).
“The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement.
“WHO urges all countries to make good on the concrete commitments they have made to expand the use of those tools, and to end TB.”
According to the survey, five key risk factors account for the majority of new tuberculosis cases: undernutrition, HIV infection, alcohol use disorders, smoking, and diabetes.
According to WHO, global finance is the most significant barrier to tuberculosis prevention and care in hard-hit areas, with low-income countries bearing 98% of the cost.
Tuberculosis, is a disease that mostly affects the lungs but can also affect other regions of the body. It can survive in the body without getting you sick or showing any symptoms, but it can be detected through tests, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Symptoms may include a cough that lasts over three weeks, chest pain, coughing up blood, fatigue, chills, fever and weight loss. It is spread through the air from person to person.
There is a vaccine for tuberculosis but it is not typically used in the U.S., the CDC said.
