A number of preventable diseases that physicians had thought had been mostly contained are making a comeback in low-income neighborhoods due to lack of health care and malnutrition, according to a story on upi.com.

Officials in England are saying once-feared diseases like tuberculosis, cholera, measles, whooping cough and scurvy are once again on the rise in the country and noted that cases of scarlet fever have increased by 136 percent and cholera is up by 300 percent.  Data from the National Health Service (NHS) has also reported a 38 percent increase in scurvy.

Many in the nation blame the increases on cuts in the country’s social services, as well as an increase in poverty, possibly leading to malnutrition across the country.

Overall, the rates of tuberculosis, which passed HIV and AIDS as the largest killer in the world this past year, have actually come down in recent years, but are still considered too high for a developed nation such as England.

The research team noted that most of the diseases are treatable and we should be able to control the spread, but they cited lack of health care access is allowing them to spread, and that same lack of care is leading to illness and death with some of the infections, particularly tuberculosis.  That disease infected about 9 million people in 2013, causing the death of 1.5 million of them.

Even though tuberculosis is declining in the United States, the Obama administration released a plan this past week to contribute more funds to combat the disease globally over the next five years, focusing on the multi-drug resistant strains of the disease.

Some officials in England are calling attention to an increase in malnutrition across the country, saying that is a factor contributing to some of the increases in disease.

Dianne Jeffrey, chair of the Malnutrition Task Force, said earlier this year much of malnutrition is preventable and it was unacceptable that estimates suggest there are one million older individuals malnourished or at risk of becoming malnourished.

She added cuts to social care are leaving many older people to cope on their own when it comes to making the correct food choices.