Nurses make sure patients take their medication

The nurses help keep track of TB patients and make sure they are sticking to lengthy courses of medication needed to control the infection and stop them spreading it to others.

The British Thoracic Society (BTS) recommends that there should be one tuberculosis nurse or health visitor for every 50 "notifications" in a district.

However, an audit carried out by the society in 43 districts with a high incidence of TB found that almost 90% of them did not have sufficient staff to cope with such levels of the disease.

TB is a global emergency and certainly a national public health disaster waiting to happen in the UK Dr Peter Ormerod, BTS

Notifications of TB in England and Wales have risen by nearly a fifth in the past decade.

TB rates have risen every year since 1996.

Tuberculosis nurses or health visitors can not only help treat and monitor those already known to have the disease, but can trace relatives of those infected for testing, and screen "high-risk" groups for the illness.

'Disaster'

Professor Peter Ormerod, from the BTS, said: "TB is a global emergency and certainly a national public health disaster waiting to happen in the UK.

"Lung specialists are very concerned that action is taken to combat the shortage of specialist nurses who are desperately needed to monitor patients and make sure they take their medication.

"It is essential, especially in high incidence areas, that real investments are made in front-line resources and staffing if we are to turn the tide against the disease."

Some areas are worse than others. In London, only one out of 21 "hotspots" had adequate staffing, according to the BTS.

Drugs cocktail

TB is caused by a bacterium which causes severe lung symptoms.

It can often be present without causing any symptoms until the patient becomes run-down or has a damaged immune system.

Presently, it can be cured by taking a cocktail of drugs over several months.