Admissions with illnesses of past hit 5-year high
CONDITIONS IN STAFFORDSHIRE INCLUDE RICKETS, SCURVY, CHOLERA AND TYPHOID
THE number of Staffordshire people being admitted to hospital with potentially deadly Victorian diseases has hit a startling a five-year high.
Health experts are warning anti-vaccine sentiment could see some of the Dickensian illnesses “bounce back” significantly.
Patients in Staffordshire were diagnosed with one of 13 diseases often associated with times gone by when admitted to hospital on 16,255 occasions in the year to March, according to figures from the NHS. They include people with illnesses such as gout, tuberculosis, malnutrition, whooping cough, measles, scurvy, typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, mumps, rickets, cholera and vitamin D deficiency.
The number was up by 33 per cent from 12,217 hospital admissions in 2020/21, having dipped during the pandemic, before which it had been rising year-on-year. It puts the number of in-patients diagnosed with these diseases at the highest level seen since at least 2017/18, when the NHS figures begin.
There were 282 cases of malnutrition diagnosed, 65 cases of tuberculosis, four cases of rickets, 37 cases of scarlet fever, one case of scurvy and three cases of typhoid fever. There were also 8,978 cases of gout diagnosed in the year to March 2022 – up 26 per cent from 7,133 the year before – as well as 6,878 cases of vitamin D deficiency – up 45 per cent from 4,753.
A further five cases of mumps, one case of measles and one case of diphtheria were also diagnosed. The diseases were the greatest cause of Victorian mortality – and while their impact and spread has since been contained thanks to developments such as clean water, wholesome food, education, antibiotics and vaccinations, they have never really gone away.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph earlier this year, Stephen Baker, a professor of microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said it was “amazing that in 2021 people are still getting scurvy” and that was mostly due to “really poor diet”. Meanwhile, many of the diseases are preventable through vaccination, including measles, whooping cough, diphtheria and mumps, reports Stokeontrentlive.
Mr Baker said: “These are all completely vaccine preventable, particularly with measles which is super transmissible. Often you get these communities with a lot of antivaxxers, and they often get outbreaks of measles and mumps with people that refuse to have themselves or their kids immunised.”
Difficulty accessing routine NHS vaccinations or choosing to stay away from the health service throughout the pandemic may have also impacted these admissions, but Mr Baker warned that if a large proportion of children remain unvaccinated “post-covid”, there will likely be a peak in cases. He added: “If we stop immunising our children, then we go back to the Victorian era.”
The UK Health Security Agency has also highlighted a post-lockdown rise in diseases such as scarlet fever, as children continue to mix freely. A total of 3,488 cases of scarlet fever were identified between September and March, lower than pre-pandemic levels, but compared to just 1,791 cases reported in the entire year to March 2021.
The three key symptoms of scarlet fever include a high temperature, a sore throat and swollen neck glands, and a bumpy, rough feeling rash that usually appears on the chest and tummy after 12 to 48 hours. Other symptoms include a white coating on the tongue, which peels a few days after appearing, leaving the tongue red and swollen, known as “strawberry tongue”.
If your child is showing these signs, you should contact your GP or NHS 111.
If we stop immunising our children, then we go back to the Victorian era.
Stephen Baker