![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/7a02a3e9ef635e7f6fad3350a4370478.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nA mother who spent a year being treated for tuberculosis (TB) is calling on people to get tested following a rise in cases across England.<\/p>\n
Jess Talbot-Jones lives in Birstall, just outside Leicester – the city with the UK’s highest TB rate for the past two years.<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old went through a lengthy course of medication alongside her husband and two-year-old son after contracting the disease and now wants people to understand the illness, its treatment and the stigma that surrounds it.<\/p>\n
New statistics released by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) showed there were 5,490 active cases of the disease in England in 2024, compared to 4,831 in 2023, a rise of 13.6%<\/p>\n
Ms Talbot-Jones said her treatment for the disease, which can feature a mucus cough which lasts longer than three weeks, night sweats and weight loss, was “traumatic”.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t really think that TB was a thing. I thought it was… more of a Victorian disease,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It was a bit of a shock really when I found out.<\/p>\n
“But when reality hits and the stigma that you’re the person that everybody around you has to get tested for because it is a bad disease – it is a bit of a scary thing.”<\/p>\n
Ms Talbot-Jones said she suffered from the active form of the disease alongside her husband and two-year-old son.<\/p>\n
Her four other children had the latent form, which does not create symptoms and is not transmissible, according to the NHS.<\/p>\n
However, it can turn into active TB in the future.<\/p>\n
“It was really traumatic,” she said.<\/p>\n
“There’s a lot of stigma around TB.<\/p>\n
“It’s seen as a disease that you can only catch if your immune system is low or if you’re living in dirty conditions.<\/p>\n
“That’s not the case, you can catch it like a cough or a cold.<\/p>\n
“If you have symptoms or fit the criteria, you should be tested.”<\/p>\n
TB is preventable and curable, with 84.4% of patients completing treatment within 12 months, the UKHSA said.<\/p>\n
However, if left untreated, the illness can cause irreversible damage to the lungs.<\/p>\n
The body also said that 82% of TB cases in 2024 were found in people born outside the UK, who often migrate to the country with the latent disease, which then becomes active.<\/p>\n
In Leicester, there is a free test available for anyone, with or without symptoms, who has entered the UK within the past five years, has lived for at least six months in a country with high TB rates such as India or sub-Saharan Africa, and is aged between 16 and 35.<\/p>\n
Analysis<\/p>\n
By Rob Sissons, East Midlands health correspondent<\/p>\n
There can be a misconception of TB as a disease that is a relic of a bygone age, a Victorian or ancient disease<\/p>\n
But in 2025 the bacterial infection still poses a significant threat to human health, with the World Health Organisation reporting nearly 4,500 people lose their lives and 30,000 people fall ill with TB each day.<\/p>\n
The bulk of cases of active TB detected in the UK are from people who were born in countries with a high incidence of the disease, such as India.<\/p>\n
Undoubtedly, some of the increase in Leicester cases detected is due to more testing, which has increased since the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n
And since Brexit there has been a surge in people coming to work and study in Leicester from India, which has a high incidence of TB.<\/p>\n
Public Health experts in Leicester are trying to do more to detect active cases of the disease by raising awareness of the classic symptoms.<\/p>\n
And the city is also home to extensive research into TB at a biomedical research centre at the Glenfield Hospital run by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr Pranab Halder said about 200 to 250 cases of TB were seen in Leicester in 2024 [BBC]<\/p>\n
Dr Pranab Halder, clinical senior lecturer in respiratory medicine at the University of Leicester, said the city is “bearing the brunt” of a national rise in TB.<\/p>\n
“TB is not a Victorian disease, it is a disease of our time,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It is not the disease that the stigma suggests – it can be cured and people will lead normal healthy lives if they get treated.”<\/p>\n
In Leicester, the UKHSA has joined forces with NHS England and Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB to tackle high rates of TB across the city.<\/p>\n
The city has been confirmed to have the highest rate of cases in the UK for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n
Cases in the local authority area increased from 42.1 cases per 100,000 people in 2024, compared with 40.7 the previous year, the UKHSA said.<\/p>\n
Rob Howard, director of public health at Leicester City Council, said the testing initiative aims to find people with latent TB, so it can be treated before it becomes transmissible.<\/p>\n
“If you do test positive, free treatment is available to prevent you from becoming ill and developing active TB, which can cause severe illness and is infectious to others,” he said.<\/p>\n
Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook<\/a>, on X<\/a>, or on Instagram<\/a>. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk<\/a> or via WhatsApp<\/a> on 0808 100 2210.<\/p>\n More on this storyRelated internet links