London suffering from shocking rise in rare 'Victorian' diseases

The Evening Standard (U.K.) / various ^ | April 15, 2009 | Joe Murphy,

[Stoat]

London suffering from shocking rise in rare 'Victorian' diseases

Joe Murphy, Political Editor
15.04.09

 

London is in the grip of a startling rise in diseases associated with Victorian times, figures disclose today.

Rare infectious illnesses including typhoid, whooping cough and scarlet fever have soared by 166 per cent in the past two years.

Infection rates in the capital are markedly higher than the national averages, warned Justine Greening, the shadow minister for London who assembled the figures.

They include a staggering 214 per cent increase in cases of mumps - up from 125 in 2007 to 393 last year. The disease is easily prevented with vaccine. The rise could be a result of parents shunning the MMR jab after now debunked claims in 2001 that it might be linked to autism. Mumps in adults can lead to hearing loss and damage the nervous system.

Whooping cough cases quadrupled in the five years to 2007, from 63 to 252. The disease is highly contagious, with infections often lasting months. Symptoms include choking spells and vomiting and can cause death, especially in young infants.

Cases of scarlet fever, which causes high fevers, rashes, and even severe damage to internal organs, are up 153 per cent since 2005, with 501 infected in London last year.

Typhoid, associated with poor sanitation and hygiene, has risen steadily since 2004, from 45 to 127 cases per year.

The Conservatives claimed the Government was partly to blame for failing to invest enough in public health and to appoint school nurses.

Ms Greening, the Putney MP, said: "The rise of these highly-infectious and potentially fatal diseases in our city is truly alarming.

"The Government must do more to ensure the public health of Londoners."

[Stoat]

Although the article omits mentioning immigration rates as a possible cause, many posters at both the Evening Standard and the Daily Mail sites believe it to be at least partially if not wholly responsible

London suffering from shocking rise in rare 'Dickensian' diseases Mail Online

 

Back to the Victorians: Rare infectious diseases are on the rise in London, with the Tories blaming poor investment in healthcare

*******************************************

It may interest readers that during the height of the hippie 'commune' fad in the 1960's, a number of odd diseases came to the attention of healthcare providers which initially had many doctors baffled.  It wasn't until some historical research was done that a correlation was found.  Many of these 'new' diseases weren't new at all, but simply hadn't been dealt with since the Middle Ages.  It seems that in many cases, it was the lack of modern sanitary conditions in the Middle ages which caused many of them but they disappeared when the concept of hygiene became accepted, only to resurface again in the hippie communes of the 1960's because the hygienic conditions were so deplorable.

By saying this I don't mean to imply that hygiene is the root cause of the situation being discussed in the article, merely as a reminder that ancient diseases can sometimes return, due to any variety of reasons.

[anniegetyourgun]

pestilence

[Frantzie]

Open borders cause this and National Health has not helped. They have “asylum seekers” (illegal aliens wanting to get on the dole) from all over especially the middle east and africa.

[Abathar]

Better immigration policy can change those numbers, look at the US and our own numbers of tuberculosis cases when you factor in the illegal immigrants from Mexico.

[exist]

Hopefully this is accompanied by them Victorian dresses that emphasize the breast area.

[DoughtyOne]

diversity

sing it from the hilltops brothers and sisters

it’s the new religion

For the record, diversity is fine when not taken to the extremes it has been today.

Good luck Londonistan.

[anniegetyourgun]

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/04/prweb2322084.htm

[driftdiver]

Another side benefit of socialized medicine.

[Mashood]

Must be all the tourists from Utah.

[Perdogg]

It might be because they don’t have enough lettus pickers in England. /sarc

[a fool in paradise]

Polio is making a comeback here I heard...

[BenLurkin]

omits mentioning immigration rates as a possible cause

What else could it be?

[anniegetyourgun]

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,27574,25336474-2682,00.html

[LibLieSlayer]

muzzies leaving their 10th Century countries to infiltrate Britain and bringing with them their 10th Century evil and diseases.

LLS

[fishtank]

No surprise to TSN.

[OldMissileer]

Wow! Ya think maybe they may finally come to the correct conclusion that letting in all the third world flotsam without making them go through proper, or old-style, customs procedures may have been the causal factor?

Na, they don't want to admit they have their collective heads up their a**es over in Britain and even here too.

[george123]

What you get when you allow 16th century middle east muslims into your country.

[LottieDah]

Don’t they vaccinate children in London anymore?

[doodad]

Kind of like TB rates here thanks to unchecked criminal infiltration.

[Stoat]

omits mentioning immigration rates as a possible cause

What else could it be?
 

Not much else that I can imagine.  The politicians of course want to use it as a justification to spend (waste) more money and as political ammo and some think that it's 'exclusively' because people aren't getting their children immunized, but it all comes back to, in my mind,  a population that is growing too fast with too many diverse (and intentionally divergent) cultures who are not being assimilated into the preexisting (western) culture and the workforce.

As other astute posters here have mentioned, we are also seeing a similar situation as this in the USA largely from the illegal Mexican populations.

omits mentioning immigration rates as a possible cause

What else could it be?
 

[Doomonyou]

Turd world diseases.

[ArrogantBustard]

pestilence

Um ... yes, Islam is a pestilence.

[Tax-chick]

Keeping in mind these are “staggering” increases from an annual incidence around 100 to an annual incidence around 300, in a population of multi-millions. It’s of concern, of course, especially if one hasn’t had the available vaccinations, but still very small numbers involved.

[anniegetyourgun]

Makes you wonder if it isn’t another failure of socialized medicine....

[martin_fierro]

Ah declah, just the other day I had a case of The Vapors.

[anniegetyourgun]

You mean, like these Muslims screaming at protesting Afghan women: “Death to the slaves of Christians.”?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7999875.stm

[Tijeras_Slim]

Ah declah, just the other day I had a case of The Vapors.

Did it turn you japanese?

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

A simple demographic survey of the sufferers will show whether the majority of those catching these diseases are native Britons who travel to far-off areas of the world, and return; or are immigrants from those places, into Britain.

AIDS made its way from Africa through a Canadian airline’s native Canadian gay male steward. Or something on those lines...

[martin_fierro]

Ah declah, just the other day I had a case of The Vapors.

Did it turn you japanese?

Oh hush now, you Yankee ruffian.

[Albion Wilde]

Bring out your dead!

This spike in deadly diseases wouldn't be related to the rise in "Asians" and their welfare-supported multiple wives, would it?

[Tax-chick]

Getting to the Change of Life, are you?

[meadsjn]

Hopefully this is accompanied by them Victorian dresses that emphasize the breast area.

I believe the Victorian era was when the collars moved upward around the chin with lace and tight buttons.

The covering-up of the hooters supposedly was going to cut down on all the diseases.

[ArrogantBustard]

Among others ... From Washington City to the Horn of Africa ...

[Stoat]

Keeping in mind these are “staggering” increases from an annual incidence around 100 to an annual incidence around 300, in a population of multi-millions. It’s of concern, of course, especially if one hasn’t had the available vaccinations, but still very small numbers involved.

I agree that it hasn't reached pandemic proportions yet, but some of the diseases involved, such as whooping cough, are highly contagious and so when you're talking about several hundred additional cases over the norm, this is still worth taking note of because each one of those patients has the potential of quickly infecting many more.

[LottieDah]

True, it must “cost too much” to innouclate children for childhood diseases. Maybe parents are concerned about detrimental effects of vaccinations. Who knows?

[Centurion2000]

This is what happens when you import the third world into a crowded city.

This is also why I live OUTSIDE the cities.

[Oldpuppymax]

And TB... a disease that was unheard of in the US for decades, has now come back. Why?? Political correctness will not permit my mentioning the reasons.

[Tax-chick]

I agree it’s a concern, just as similar resurgence of some contagious diseases is in the U.S. Unfortunately, many people haven’t been vaccinated for what were (until recently) the standard contagious illnesses, because they believed there was no risk of exposure to the disease. Oops.

[TChris]

What else could it be?

Umm... Did you read the article?

The speculation that it may be related to decreased vaccination rates because of the "vaccines-cause-autism" crap appears to be a reasonable guess.

[Travis T. OJustice]

And TB... a disease that was unheard of in the US for decades, has now come back. Why?? Political correctness will not permit my mentioning the reasons.

Fags. They made the gov institute HIPPA, so they can be sick little ass pirates and spread disease privately.

[Constitution Day]

Ah declah, just the other day I had a case of The Vapors.

Did it turn you japanese?

Do you really think so?

[dynachrome]

I remember Doc S. talking about TB and other stuff.

Scary.

[Frogtacos]

Cases of scarlet fever, which causes high fevers, rashes, and even severe damage to internal organs, are up 153 per cent since 2005, with 501 infected in London last year.

Something I discovered about Scarlet Fever (when my daughter got it a couple years ago) is that it is a streptococcal infection - brother to none other than strep throat (both being in Group A Streptococcal Infections.) It is very easily treated with antibiotics.

[Cicero]

It’s probably not helped by the fact that their National Health Service is increasingly staffed by third-world Muslims and doctors, many of whom refuse to wash their hands properly or wear proper uniforms because it’s not halal. Not to mention the doctors who blow up bars and airports in their spare time.

[count-your-change]

” The rise could be a result of parents shunning the MMR jab after now debunked claims in 2001 that it might be linked to autism.”

A vise-like grip on the obvious.

[Logophile]

Keeping in mind these are “staggering” increases from an annual incidence around 100 to an annual incidence around 300, in a population of multi-millions. It’s of concern, of course, especially if one hasn’t had the available vaccinations, but still very small numbers involved.

Obviously, you are a numbers person.

Hey, this is your big day, isn't it?

[Stoat]

I agree it’s a concern, just as similar resurgence of some contagious diseases is in the U.S. Unfortunately, many people haven’t been vaccinated for what were (until recently) the standard contagious illnesses, because they believed there was no risk of exposure to the disease. Oops.

Vaccination rates are definitely part of the equation, and I have no doubt that some parents are still avoiding them because of the reasons you cite as well as a now-debunked scare as suggested in the article, but I don't think that it's entirely inappropriate to consider the possibility that some if not a substantial number of third-world immigrants do not get vaccinated because of basic ignorance to the benefits of vaccinations, a religious or cultural impasse or a general fear and distrust of Western medicine, which brings us back to immigration.  If you bring in enough third-worlders, you're going to get a certain percentage that are ignorant, fearful or both.

[Ronin]

Totally socialized medicine, an absolutely insane immigration policy, a public purse that hemorrhages money to people who won’t work because they don’t want to, limited numbers of health care professionals who are willing to put up with the PC crapola that comes with being a government flunky...

And I am supposed to be surprise that these “rare” diseases are making a comeback?

[Tax-chick]

I’m retired!