TUBERCULOSIS cases have rocketed over the past year while child vaccination rates continue to decline, official figures showed today.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) recorded 283 cases of TB last year, 40.8 per cent up on the 201 recorded in 2022, the largest increase since records began in 2000.

Confirming the historic link with poverty, asylum-seekers are 19.2 times more likely to contract TB and 30.8 per cent of cases are found in the most deprived areas, compared to 10.4 per cent in the wealthiest.