Health Authorities Warn of Rising Tuberculosis Cases Among Children in Central Asia

The report arrives at a time of global aid reductions, which health officials warn could result in a resurgence of TB.

Cases of tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease, are up nearly 10 per cent year-over-year among children in Europe and Central Asia, according to a new report from international health agencies, The Caspian Post reports citing Euronews.

The data, which is from 2023, indicates that the European region is still grappling with the spillover effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Europe team.

And it comes as health officials warn that cuts to global aid could lead to a resurgence of TB worldwide.

In 2023, more than 172,000 people in the European region either got TB or had a relapse of the disease, similar to levels reported in 2022, the analysis shows. While TB deaths declined, they fell at a much slower rate than before the COVID-19 crisis.

That suggests many infected people went undiagnosed and untreated when the pandemic disrupted medical services, and that the consequences are now becoming apparent, the report said.

The toll on children also appears to be growing, with about 7,500 TB cases among kids under age 15 in the European region in 2023 - a 9.6 per cent increase from the year before, the report found.

More than 2,400 of these cases were reported among children under 5, who are at higher risk of serious illness and death.

“The current TB burden and the worrying rise in children with TB serves as a reminder that progress against this preventable and curable disease remains fragile," Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO Europe director, said in a statement.

The findings indicate that TB is continuing to spread across Europe and that “immediate” public health efforts should be put in place to get the disease in check, the report said.