Cases of scabies, measles, rickets, and scurvy are rising sharply in England, alarming health experts who warn the country is regressing to Victorian-era health standards. Data from the Royal College of General Practitioners shows scabies rates at three per 100,000 nationally, double the five-year average, with northern England seeing six per 100,000. In 2022, 423 hospital admissions for rickets and 188 for scurvy were recorded, conditions linked to malnutrition, which has quadrupled to 10,000 admissions annually over 12 years.
Dr Clare Gerada, former RCGP president, warned the UK risks 'going back to the Victorian era'. Sir Michael Marmot, director of the Institute of Health Equity at University College London, called the resurgence 'horrendous', blaming the cost-of-living crisis and decade-long cuts to public health. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports 14.4 million Britons lived in poverty in 2021-22, with 6 million in 'very deep' poverty.
Measles cases surged to 1,603 suspected cases in 2023, quadruple 2021 levels, according to the UK Health Security Agency. Sexually transmitted diseases are also spiking: gonorrhoea rose 50% to 82,592 cases in 2022, the highest since 1918, and syphilis increased 15% to 8,692, the highest since 1948. The Local Government Association noted sexual health consultations rose a third since 2013, despite frontline cuts.
Experts stress that poverty drives these trends, with children in deprived areas twice as likely to die from infections. Marmot's review found nearly 11,000 more excess deaths in the most deprived areas in 2020. While increased testing may explain some STD rises, the scale suggests growing community transmission, exacerbated by reduced access to services.
