Thea Matthewman (11) from Maidstone, one of the first children in the 5-11-year-old age group to receive the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, at the Pharmacy2U Covid-19 vaccination centre, Maidstone, Kent, April 28, 2022
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.
Children now make up over a quarter of cases, compared with just 5 per cent in 2022.
Calling for the SNP government to “act urgently,” Scottish Labour’s public health spokeswoman Carol Mochan commented: “The stark reality is that on the SNP’s watch, children in deprived areas are more likely to fall ill with diseases that should be consigned to the history books.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We will continue to work with PHS and the UK Health Security Agency to better understand the contributing factors to the increase.”
