TUBERCULOSIS rates in Hounslow remain among the highest in the UK, according to new figures.
More cases of the potentially fatal disease were diagnosed per person in Hounslow last year than in all but three other London boroughs, new figures from Public Health England show.
TB rates in London are much higher than in the rest of the UK, with the capital accounting for 40 per cent of cases nationally.
There were 76.0 new cases recorded per 100,000 population in Hounslow during 2012, higher than anywhere in London except Newham, Brent and Harrow.
That represents a small rise from last year, when the rate was 70.9, but a fall from 2010, when there were 82.8 cases per 100,000 in the borough.
TB rates have risen sharply in the borough over the last decade, from just 50.3 cases per 100,000 people in 2002.
Nationally, TV rates have stabilised at about 14 cases per 100,000 since the mid-2000s, but rates in London are the highest of any capital city in western Europe.
The majority of cases are among young adults aged 25 to 44 born outside the UK.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, regional director for PHE London, called for a 'concerted effort' to reduce levels of the preventable and treatable condition in the capital.
She said it was important to improve screening for TB across London, especially among those who have come to the capital from countries with high rates of the disease.
