Today is Seonai's funeral, and very fittingly the Argus (Brighton's newspaper) devoted its headline story to her, and her struggle with TB. http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/4472639.Tragic_death_of_Brighton_TB_woman Tragic death of Brighton TB woman Thursday 2nd July 2009 By Siobhan Ryan, Health Reporter A woman who spent years campaigning to raise awareness of TB has died after battling the disease. Mother-of-one Seonai Gordon lost her fight for life after developing serious complications caused by her illness. “It is a condition that is entirely treatable if it is caught early enough. In Seonai's case it wasn't.” Close friend Tina Harrison Friends of the 47-year-old said her death would have been prevented if the tuberculosis had been diagnosed and treated earlier. There were 38 recorded cases of TB in Brighton and Hove in 2008 and between 400 and 500 people die from the disease in the UK each year. Ms Gordon, from Kemp Town, Brighton, was a journalist and activist who fought to raise awareness of TB and reduce the stigma associated with it. She first became ill with TB in 1999 while working in Glasgow and fully recovered. In 2004, while living and working as a journalist in Thailand, she became ill again and deteriorated over a period of 18 months. Her doctor did not suggest TB and she did not know that it was possible to get it twice. By the time she was diagnosed and moved back to the UK the disease was advanced and she had only 25% lung function. After treatment, the TB was cleared, but Ms Gordon was left with a condition called bronchiectasis, an abnormal and permanent widening of the lungs. Last year medics said there was no more they could do for her and she spent the last few months of her life under the care of the Martlets Hospice in Hove. Close friend Tina Harrison, from the Brighton-based charity TB Alert, said: “Seonai brought so much into my life and was an inspiring woman. “Her death could have been prevented if she had been diagnosed sooner before the TB did permanent damage to her lungs. “Her friends hope to make her story widely known to try and prevent others going through what she did. “Our thoughts are with her family and all those who knew her. “We don't want her death to be in vain. “There is still a lot of stigma surrounding the condition but it is not anybody's fault if they catch it. “It is a condition that is entirely treatable if it is caught early enough. In Seonai's case it wasn't.” She died at the Martlets in Wayfield Avenue on June 23. Ms Gordon leaves a son Ziyo, 14, who is being supported by family and friends. Her funeral is taking place today (fri) at Woodvale Crematorium. A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust said: “Tuberculosis is usually easily treated with a long-term course of antibiotics. “It is unusual for someone to die from TB in this country and is extremely sad when this happens.” TB is a disease caused by a bacterium. It usually affects the lungs but can develop in any part of the body. TB used to be rife in the UK up until the 1950s but with the advent of antibiotics it was thought TB would be consigned to the history books. However it never did disappear and cases are still going up around the UK and the rest of the world. Even in Britain and Ireland, the number of cases never went below 5,000 a year and has risen since 1987 to more than 8,000 a year People only tend to get it if they have been in close daily contact with someone who has the disease, such as a family member, friend, partner or co-worker. The condition is an airborne disease and only people with TB in the lungs can spread the disease by coughing up the bacteria, leading to another person breathing it in. Health professionals say TB cannot be caught by sitting next to someone who is coughing on a bus. Nor is it spread by dishes or drinking glasses. Although anyone can get TB, it can often affect people in more deprived areas. However a person’s natural immunity to disease suffers from living stressful lifestyles, in poor conditions or on poor diets, so anyone in those situations are more vulnerable to the disease. Living in overcrowded housing makes the spread of TB more likely.