‘World’s deadliest infection’ leaves man with ‘giant, crusty wart’ sprouting from his hand amid ‘worrying’ resurgence in UK

A MAN suffered a rare side effect of a tuberculosis infection, forming a crusty yellow wart on his hand.

Dubbed “the world’s deadliest infection,” tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs and spreads through coughs and sneezes of infected people.

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But in one rare case, a 59-year-old man developed a giant, scaly wart as a result of the infection.

It comes as the UK sees a worrying resurgence of the Victorian disease, with 106 cases reported in England and Wales in the week leading up to June 16.

The patient, from China, had been suffering from a painful rash on his right hand for a year before visiting a dermatology clinic.

Doctors examined the wart, which covered the back of the man’s right hand as well as part of his index finger, noting “thick yellowish-brown crust” and an inflamed red border.

According to a report published in The New English Journal of Medicinethe 59-year-old man had no symptoms other than the wart and the pain it caused him.

Doctors then took a tissue sample from the lesion, analyzed it under a microscope and performed genomic sequencing.

They managed to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosisthe bacteria that causes tuberculosis infections.

After a computed tomography (CT) scan of the man’s chest revealed no TB in his lungs, doctors diagnosed him with a rarer form of the infection known as extrapulmonary TB.

Refers to cases in which organs other than the lungs are affected, being responsible for 20 percent of TB cases.

Specifically, the man – a veterinarian by profession – was diagnosed with verrucous tuberculosis, also known as verrucous tuberculosis.

It can happen when it can happen when M. tuberculosis enters the skin, usually through an open wound or abrasion.

This subtype of infection is even rarer, accounting for just 1.5 percent of extrapulmonary TB cases.

The authors of the case report did not discuss how the man could have become infected, but noted that his work as a veterinarian could be a possible risk factor.

“Occupational exposure to mycobacteria, especially among people with frequent contact with livestock, is a risk factor,” they stated.

Tuberculosis is usually treated with antibiotics and the man’s skin infection was no different.

He was prescribed a six-month course of antibiotics, and within two months his wart “shrank,” doctors reported.

What is tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis, formerly called consumption, is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that affects the lungs.

It spreads in the air when people who carry the insect cough, sneeze or spit.

Symptoms include coughing for more than three weeks, feeling exhausted, high temperature, weight loss and loss of appetite.

Tuberculosis remains one of the deadliest diseases in the world and the second leading cause of infectious death after Covid-19.

It can be fatal, but most cases can be successfully treated with antibiotics.

Victorian cases of the disease rose by more than 10 percent last year, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) – rising from 4,380 in 2022 to 4,850 in 2023.

This has left health chiefs scrambling to “investigate the reasons” behind the sudden rise in infections.

UKHSA’s latest Notification of Infectious Diseases (NOIDs) report revealed that 106 cases of the infection were detected in England and Wales between 10 and 16 June.

London reported the highest number of cases during this period, 37, followed by the West Midlands with 21 cases and the North West with 14.

People are at greater risk of contracting the disease if they are in close contact with a person known to have the disease, travel to countries with high rates of TB, are homeless, are addicted to drugs, have a weakened immune system, or are in prison.

There is a vaccine that protects against the virus – called the BCG vaccine – but vaccination programs have been canceled in several countries over the last 20 years.

In the UK, it is recommended for people who are at higher risk of getting tuberculosis or becoming seriously ill, including babies and children who live in areas where the infection is more common, and healthcare workers who may be at higher risk of catching it through work. .