The number of people hospitalised with potentially deadly Victorian diseases has soared to a five-year high. Experts are warning that anti-vaccine sentiment could see some of these Dickensian illnesses “bounce back” - while parents have been urged to be on the lookout for signs in children as cases continue to rise.
Exclusive figures from the NHS reveal that patients in England were diagnosed with one of 13 Victorian diseases when admitted to hospital on 421,370 occasions in the year to March. They include all people admitted with these illnesses - which include gout, tuberculosis, malnutrition, whooping cough, measles, scurvy, typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, mumps, rickets, cholera, and vitamin D deficiency - even if it wasn’t the primary reason for their admission.
The number was up by 25% from 338,216 hospital admissions in 2020/21, having dipped during the pandemic where previously it had been rising year-on-year. It puts the number of in-patients diagnosed with these diseases at the highest level seen since at least 2017/18, when these figures begin.
