TB continues to be a significant global health threat, which is why March 24 hosts an annual World TB Day, to raise awareness of tuberculosis. This is a disease that might not seem to pose a threat in the UK but, each year, some UK travellers require a tuberculosis vaccination to safeguard their health abroad.
World TB Day takes place on the date that the bacterium that causes the disease – Mycobacterium tuberculosis – was discovered by Robert Koch. Although that was in 1882, the disease has not been eradicated.
How prevalent a travel risk is TB?
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that largely affects the lungs, although other parts of the body can also be impacted. It is spread through coughs, sneezes and droplets dispersed when speaking. If an infected person suffers latent TB, the disease is not active. If it is active, it can lead to severe respiratory issues and fever. A sufferer might experience night sweats and weight loss and, in severe cases, could die.
World Health Organisation (WHO) figures from 2022 suggest there were 10.6m people suffering from tuberculosis worldwide and around 1.3m deaths. This level of fatality is one of the most serious emanating from any disease. It is something that cannot be taken lightly, hence the need for the awareness day.
Where might a traveller encounter TB?
Tuberculosis thrives where income levels within the local population are low and where healthcare infrastructure is poor. These can also be some of the most attractive places to which to travel, from the point of view of natural highlights, local wildlife spotting opportunities or a rich cultural offering.
TB-affected locations are also likely to be found in countries to which aid workers travel, in order to carry out health and charitable welfare roles. This puts many such charitable workers at risk of tuberculosis, whether they are full-time aid workers, seasonal volunteers or students taking on charitable work as part of a gap year experience.
Which countries have the highest TB risk?
Countries in which tuberculosis is prevalent include India, which has the highest number of cases of any country worldwide. Other countries that experience deaths from this disease include China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and South Africa. When you examine the list, you can see that several of these are popular tourism destinations.
For this reason, it pays to add to the layer of health protection available to you by taking advantage of the BCG vaccine, if you are likely to be at risk. This situation could also emerge if you are visiting friends and family in one of the countries in which TB is prevalent, particularly if they live in local communities with poor sanitation and healthcare facilities. Also, the longer you stay in such communities, the greater the exposure you might have to TB.
TB precautions: practical measures and travel vaccination
Other precautions to take can include mask-wearing, practising good handwashing and sanitation procedures and avoiding close contact with other individuals, particularly in crowded spaces. Should you develop any symptoms, you should also get medical treatment as fast as possible. As WHO emphasises, tuberculosis is both preventable and curable, if the right interventions take place.
To minimise your exposure, if travelling in an area or environment in which tuberculosis might thrive, consider a tuberculosis travel vaccination. To assess whether the risk of TB will be in the precise location to which you will travel, or be a risk because of the type of activity you will undertake overseas, there is clarity available. Simply input the details of you, your itinerary, your current health situation and your intended activities into the Pinpoint Travel Health system and allow it to create a personalised Travel Health Brief for you.
Once you have a clearer idea of what your risk might be, you can act on its recommendations. This might mean doing nothing, if the risk does not exist, or it could mean arranging a travel vaccination against tuberculosis at a travel clinic suggested in your Pinpoint Travel Health Brief. Either way, having clarity over the TB situation and how it might affect your travels – as well as knowing what other diseases might cause an issue and require you to have travel vaccinations or antimalarial medications pre-departure – is well worth having.
For the relatively low cost of organising a Travel Health Brief, it’s not worth the risk that can come with not achieving travel health clarity. Create your Travel Health Brief today!