Tuberculosis…the Forgotten Killer

My wife and I have been taking care of developmentally disabled in our home for the state for a quarter of a century. Fifteen years or longer ago, we had two of them in our household that were carriers of TB, but no one new it. My wife and three other disabled got it from them. There was a year of medications for all of them along with other precautions. One spot in the lung of my wife was damaged and testing had to be done frequently for a while. Fortunately it sealed itself off and she is all right, but it was scary for a while. There is not enough public information disseminated on the subject. Some quit taking their medication before they should and it makes it much more difficult to cure. It is good that you brought it to attention.

Fred Wickert

A good reminder, Gail. Excellently researched and written. I didn't know most of the history of this disease. Scary to think it's coming back. Carol

It is ironic that just two days after I posted, the National News Service came out with news from Paris, France stated "A new deadly drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis is on the rise this year forcing scientists to confront old drugs & more than a century-old TB test that takes weeks to get confirmation." They are calling it XDR-TB. Gail

Dear Gail,

This is an important educational piece. When I was growing up in Ireland in the 1940s, just about every family had someone with TB. I mention it it my story "a Kiss from Belgium" about my Aund Christina. The Dr. said he feared she had a shadow on her lung.

A Dr. Noel Browne, Dublin, wrote a book "Against the Tide" about his struggle to rid Ireland of this deadly disease. The politics of health care for the poor is the tide he talks about. Thanks for the important reminder. Veronica Breen Hogle