“Victorian era” diseases are on the rise across the Channel. Health professionals are especially warning about the growing poverty and malnutrition in the country.
Diseases of the past that many believe have been forgotten. However, many of them persist worldwide and some are increasing. This is particularly the case in the United Kingdom where health professionals are warning of a resurgence of “Victorian-era diseases”, ie diseases that were particularly devastating during the 19th century.
Poverty, malnutrition, less fear of AIDS, mistrust of vaccines… these additional reasons are multiple. If, to The Times, the president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Dr. Claire Gerrada assures that “we won’t end up like the Victorians” because we now have effective drugs, so the situation is alarming.
A significant increase
Since the Covid-19 health crisis, the number of Britons suffering from scabies has risen sharply. This mite-borne disease causes severe itching, lesions and sleep disturbances.
According to the Royal College of General Practitioners, there are currently three cases of scabies per 100,000 people in England, double the five-year average. In the north of the region, this rate rises to six per 100,000, The Guardian suggests.
The British daily also reports that scurvy, a disease caused by lack of sunlight and vitamin D, is on the rise, as are cases of scurvy linked to insufficient consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, which leads to vitamin C deficiency.
Scurvy can cause extreme fatigue, bleeding gums, tooth loss, joint pain or impaired healing, while rickets affects bone development.
Poverty and malnutrition are to blame
These two ancient diseases are indicators of malnutrition. In England, hospital admissions for this reason are four times higher today than they were 12 years ago. According to The Times, one in six people in the UK were “in relative poverty” in 2021-2022.
In the past, scurvy particularly affected sailors who spent months at sea without eating any fruit or vegetables. Nowadays, health professionals point to the increasing difficulties of the population in eating well.
Moreover, obesity is also a sign of malnutrition. Most obese children are more likely to be deficient in vitamin D “because they’re not getting enough calories,” and therefore suffer from rickets, Claire Gerada says.
In The Guardian, Sir Michael Marmot, director of the Institute for Health Equity at the University of London, asserts that the resurgence of these pathologies reflects poverty but also budget cuts in public services. Indeed, for scabies, for example, the lack of drugs prevents the progression of the disease from slowing down.
Other diseases are increasing
Another cause for concern: the outbreak of measles cases. According to the British Health Security Agency, there will be four times more of them in 2023 than in 2021. This trend is partly due to growing vaccine reluctance, especially post-Covid-19.
British health authorities also point to fatigue with the childhood vaccination schedule and the difficulty in obtaining vaccines, particularly due to a shortage of health professionals across the country.
While the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the disease can be eliminated by vaccination, 95% vaccination coverage is required to prevent it from circulating. In Hackney, East London, the figure is just 56%. In Northern Ireland, reports The Express, a vaccination program is currently underway.
Other diseases are also increasing across the channel, such as STIs (sexually transmitted infections) such as syphilis and gonorrhea. This is because there are very long waits for appointments for screening and then treatment, but also because there are fewer precautions taken by the population, who, for example, have less fear of AIDS than before.
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