Tuberculosis is a treatable and preventable disease, yet it kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world. In Baden-Württemberg, the numbers have recently improved somewhat.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – After an increase during the corona pandemic, the number of tuberculosis cases in the southwest decreased last year. According to the Ministry of Health, a total of 539 tuberculosis cases were reported to the State Health Office shortly before Christmas 2022. In the previous year there were 578 tuberculosis cases in the same period, in 2020 a total of 561 cases.
The number of cases was significantly higher in previous years because the number of cases had increased continuously with the arrival of many refugees in the mid-2010s. At that time, those affected were mostly people from countries of origin where tuberculosis frequently occurs. These include Eastern European and also some African countries. However, all health statistics for the past two years have been affected by the restrictions during the corona pandemic. Among other things, fewer people went to the doctor because of lockdowns or fear of infection.
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common infectious diseases. It is transmitted from person to person by inhaling infectious droplets. The bacteria usually get into the lungs, but can also infect other organs. The disease sometimes breaks out years after infection, and around half of those infected die without treatment. But it is preventable and curable. It is worrying that the pathogens are increasingly developing resistance to the actually successful antibiotics.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, around 1.6 million people died from TB worldwide in 2021, after 1.5 million in 2020 and 1.4 million in 2019. The WHO fears that the Russian war against Ukraine and conflicts in Africa and in the Middle East could exacerbate the situation.
Last year, around 450,000 people were diagnosed with TB that did not respond to the common antibiotic, rifampicin. That was three percent more than the year before.