Victorian-Era diseases like scurvy, tuberculosis (TB), and scarlet fever, once synonymous with the squalor of 19th-century Britain, have indeed been making a notable comeback in recent years — particularly in the UK, but with echoes in the US and globally.

These Victorian-era diseases were largely tamed through public health reforms, nutrition improvements, antibiotics, and vaccination, but factors like poverty, disrupted healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, migration, vaccine hesitancy, and cost-of-living pressures have fueled their return. Below, I’ll break down the trends, causes, and data for each, drawing on the latest reports as of mid-2025.

Key Trends and Data

Hospital admissions and notifications for these conditions have risen steadily since around 2010, with accelerations post-2020. Here’s a snapshot of recent UK figures (England-focused, as data is most granular there):

Scurvy, a Vitamin C deficiency, saw 188 hospital admissions in 2022 (up from 80 in 2010); cases nearly tripled to 171 in 2020-21 and was linked to malnutrition in 10,000+ annual admissions. Scurvy is rare in the US but even still, it’s tied to food insecurity and the global rise in low-income groups.

Tuberculosis (TB), saw 5,480 cases in 2024 (a 13% rise from 4,850 in 2023; 11% rise in 2023 from 2022). Infection rates are the highest since 1970; urban areas like London hit hardest (rates up to 113/100,000). In the United States, provisional 2024 data shows 9,000 cases (stable but above pre-pandemic lows); at the global level: 10.6 million new cases in 2023 alone according to the World Health Organization.

Scarlet Fever (Group A Streptococcus infection), saw 12,176 case notifications from January to March in 2024 compared to 3,488 case notifications from September 2021 to March 2022 (up 35% from prior year). There was a seasonal peak in early 2025 at 1.07/100,000 consultations. There were only sporadic outbreaks in the United States.

Sources: UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reports 2024-2025; NHS England data; WHO Global TB Report 2024.

Why Are These Diseases Returning?

Experts attribute the resurgence to a mix of socioeconomic and systemic issues, not just “Victorian” nostalgia:

• • Poverty and Malnutrition: One in five UK adults lives below the poverty line, driving food insecurity. Scurvy stems from diets lacking fresh produce—exacerbated by rising food costs (up 25% since 2021). Rickets (related vitamin D deficiency) saw 423 admissions in 2022, often in children from low-sunlight, poor-diet households.
  • Healthcare Disruptions: COVID-19 lockdowns delayed screenings and treatments, leading to a “lag” in TB diagnoses (infections from 2020-2022 surfacing now). TB treatment completion rates dropped to 79% in 2023.
  • Infectious Spread: Scarlet fever thrives in crowded settings like schools; post-lockdown mixing caused spikes. TB spreads via airborne droplets in under-ventilated urban areas, with higher rates among migrants from high-burden countries (e.g., South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa).
  • Vaccine and Awareness Gaps: Scarlet fever has no vaccine, but TB’s BCG jab (routine until 2005 in low-risk UK areas) and general hesitancy post-COVID play roles. Antibiotic resistance complicates scarlet fever and TB.
  • Broader “Dickensian” Factors: Over 14 million in UK poverty; 4 million children affected. Discussions on various social media platforms and news broadcasts highlight public alarm, linking it to austerity and Brexit’s £100B+ annual economic hit.

In the United States, trends mirror the UK’s but are less acute — TB is stable at 2.4 cases/100,000, per CDC 2024 provisional data, though urban hotspots (e.g., California) see rises tied to homelessness.

Symptoms and Prevention

These diseases are treatable if caught early, but delays can lead to severe complications (e.g., heart issues from scarlet fever, organ damage from TB).

• • Scurvy: Fatigue, bleeding gums, joint pain. Prevent: Eat citrus, berries, veggies; supplements for at-risk groups.
  • TB: Persistent cough (>3 weeks), fever, night sweats, weight loss. Prevent: Free screenings in high-risk areas; BCG vaccine for newborns in endemic zones; avoid close contact with infected.
  • Scarlet Fever: Rash, sore throat, “strawberry” tongue, fever. Prevent: Handwashing, isolate sick kids; antibiotics if exposed.

Public health bodies like UKHSA urge annual TB testing in vulnerable communities and nutrition programs. Globally, WHO’s 2035 TB elimination goal requires 18% annual UK reductions—ambitious but feasible with funding.This isn’t inevitable regression; it’s a wake-up call for equitable healthcare and social support. If you’re in a high-risk group, consult a General Practitioner — early intervention works.

For more information about any of these Victorian-Era diseases you can check out UKHSA’s TB/scarlet fever dashboards.

Sharing photos of your children on social media — often called “sharenting” — feels totally natural in our digitally connected world.

If anyone knows how tempting it is to share our kids’ hysterical, adorable, or unreal moments with our entire social networks, it’s us, the parents.

Sharing photos is a way to celebrate milestones, seek advice, or connect with distant family. But experts and parents increasingly warn that these innocent posts can create lasting risks, from privacy breaches to exploitation. By the time a child turns 13, parents may have shared around 1,300 photos or videos of them online.

Once posted, these images are hard to fully erase due to screenshots, shares, and platform algorithms. Below, I’ll outline specific types of photos (and details) to avoid, backed by common concerns from child safety advocates, cybersecurity pros, and real parent experiences.

Types of Photos and Details to Avoid Posting

Here’s a breakdown of problematic shares, why they’re risky, and safer alternatives. This isn’t about shaming — it’s about empowering you to protect your kids’ digital footprint.

With regard to location or other revealing shots try to avoid grabbing photos of your kids in front of your house (address visible), at school gates, or playgrounds with identifiable landmarks. Sharing photos taken in front of your home or school can establish potential routines, enabling stalking or harassment. Predators can piece together patterns from multiple posts. You can always crop out backgrounds and even use private family albums (e.g., iCloud shared folders) for close relatives only.

Birthdays and various other milestones can expose birth dates, ages, and locations, fueling identity theft — kids’ clean credit histories make them prime targets for fraudulent accounts. Try to avoid the public images of party photos with the cake showing age, or “1st birthday at [venue]” captions. Try to share the milestone verbally or via encrypted messages; avoid public dates/names.

Full-face close-ups can feed facial recognition tech and AI tools that generate deepfakes or explicit content (even from clothed images). Platforms own rights to redistribute your uploads like smiling portraits, sleeping babies, or family selfies showing clear faces for example. Try using emojis/stickers over faces, back/silhouette views, or no-face shots (e.g., feet in sand).

School or uniform shared photos can identify education details, making bullying or targeted approaches easier. Uniforms can tag routines like bus stops. Avoid grabbing shots of your kids in school clothes, backpack, or with classmates surrounded by identifiable settings. You should wait for consent (around age 6-8) and post their photos only if they agree; otherwise, skip.

Embarrassing or vulnerable moments can violate future consent — kids may cringe at tantrums, potty training, or messes immortalized online. These can lead to “digital kidnapping” where images are stolen and repurposed as someone else’s child. These would be things like bath time, meltdowns, or “adorable fails” like food-smeared faces for instance. Keep private journals or printed albums; discuss boundaries with your kids as they grow.

Be cautious of group photos with unvetted people. These can expose your kid alongside others without permission; others might re-post publicly. Situations like this often involve family events where faces aren’t blurred, or playdates with non-close friends’ kids. You might do well to ask permission from all of the parents; blur non-family faces or share one-on-one.

These risks of sharing photos aren’t hypothetical: Australian officials once uncovered 45 million child images (mostly from social media) in predator caches with many innocent play shots. AI now amplifies threats, turning family dinners into source material for harmful edits.

Broader Risks of Sharenting

• • Predator Access: Even private accounts aren’t foolproof — followers can screenshot and share. Cybersecurity experts note metadata (like GPS tags) embeds location data automatically.
  • Identity Theft & Long-Term Harm: Oversharing builds profiles for fraud; one expert advises a “holiday card-or-less” rule — minimal, non-identifying updates.
  • Consent & Emotional Impact: Kids can’t opt out young, leading to anxiety over “cringy” teen discoveries. Many parents regret it and delete archives.
  • Platform Exploitation: Social media terms grant companies rights to your content forever, potentially for ads or training AI.

Tips for Safer Sharing

If you still want to share (totally valid!), prioritize privacy:

• • Go Private/Minimalist: Limit to close circles; use invite-only apps like Tinybeans for family-only access.
  • Tech Tweaks: Disable location services, facial recognition, and auto-uploads. Set Google Alerts for your kid’s name.
  • Family Buy-In: Announce boundaries at birth (e.g., “No shares, please—we’re keeping it offline”) and remind gently. Cover faces in group shots.
  • Involve Your Kids: Start consent talks early; let them curate as teens.
  • Offline Joy: Print photos for albums or host in-person shares — validation from likes isn’t worth the vulnerability.

Ultimately, it’s your call, but erring on the side of caution gives kids agency over their story. As one parent put it: “She didn’t choose social media — I did.” If you’re rethinking past posts, tools like Instagram’s “Download Your Data” can help you to audit and delete.

I’m pretty sure that in the future, your kids will thank you for the protected space to grow up offline.