Diseases and conditions associated with Victorian poverty such as malnutrition, scarlet fever, scurvy, typhoid, rickets, cholera and tuberculosis are on the rise in Derbyshire.
The number of people hospitalized with life-threatening Victorian disease has skyrocketed in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire for up to five years. Experts warn that anti-vaccine sentiment could see some of these Dickensian diseases “recover” while parents have been urged to pay attention to signs in children as cases continue to rise.
Exclusive NHS figures reveal that patients in our area were diagnosed with one of 13 Victorian diseases when they were admitted to hospital 14,097 times during the year through March. They include all people admitted with these diseases, which include gout, tuberculosis, malnutrition, whooping cough, measles, scurvy, typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, mumps, rickets, cholera, and vitamin D deficiency, even if not the main one. reason for their admission.
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The number increased by 14% from 12,415 hospital admissions in 2020/21, after declining during the pandemic where it had previously increased year-on-year. It places the number of hospitalized patients diagnosed with these diseases at the highest level seen since at least 2017/18, when these figures begin.
Specifically, 8,485 cases of gout were diagnosed in the year to March 2022 – 11% more than the 7,639 in the previous year – as well as 5,160 cases of vitamin D deficiency (21% more than the 4,274 ). In contrast to most diseases prevalent during the Victorian era, gout is generally associated with a high lifestyle, alcohol, and an overly rich diet. It is a form of inflammatory arthritis.
318 cases of malnutrition, 99 cases of tuberculosis, two cases of rickets, 14 cases of scarlet fever, three cases of scurvy and four cases of typhoid fever were also diagnosed. Three more cases of whooping cough, four cases of measles, four cases of diphtheria and one case of mumps were also diagnosed.
Diseases like these were the leading cause of Victorian mortality, and although their impact and spread have been contained since then thanks to developments such as clean water, healthy eating, education, antibiotics and vaccines, the truth is that they have never disappeared.
Speaking to the Telegraph earlier this year, Stephen Baker, a professor of microbiology at Cambridge University, said it was “amazing that by 2021 people still have scurvy” and that this is mainly due to “a very poor diet. “.
Meanwhile, many of the diseases can be prevented by vaccination, such as measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and mumps.
Baker said: “All of these can be completely prevented by the vaccine, especially with measles, which is super transmissible. You often have these communities with a lot of anti-vaccinators, and they often get measles outbreaks and mumps with people who refuse to get vaccinated. themselves or their children. “
The difficulty of accessing routine NHS vaccinations or choosing to stay away from health care during the pandemic may also have affected these admissions, but Baker warned that if a large proportion of children remain unvaccinated “post-covid.” there will probably be a peak in cases.
He added: “If we stop immunizing our children, we will go back to the Victorian era. We consider these things a bit of the past. It is because we have controlled them through immunization. If we get vaccines, they will recover.”
The UK Health Safety Agency has also highlighted a post-block increase in Victorian 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 only 1,791 cases reported throughout the year to March 2021.
Rates have been higher in the North West of England, with Warrington officials warning that cases are currently above pre-pandemic levels.
Speaking to the Warrington Guardian, a member of the public health and welfare cabinet, Cllr Maureen McLaughlin said:
“While there may be a variety of factors driving this, our reduced exposure to bacteria and viruses during the pandemic may mean that we are experiencing a deficiency in immunity to some diseases, leading to increased susceptibility to infection. “Although the incidence of scarlet fever is relatively low, this includes a higher incidence of reported cases than pre-pandemic levels in Warrington.”
Public health officials in the area have been working to reduce the transmission, sharing information with schools and parents about the signals to look for. The three key symptoms of scarlet fever include high temperature, swollen sore throat and neck glands, and a rash with a feeling of roughness and irregularity that usually appears on the chest and abdomen after 12 to 48 hours.
Other symptoms include a white layer on the tongue, which peels a few days after it appears, leaving the tongue red and swollen, known as a “strawberry tongue”. If your child shows these signs, you should contact your GP or NHS 111.
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