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Tuberculosis

By kennethmason1

  • The emergence of Turberculosis

    One person in four is killed by TB in Europe and America.

  • Attempt to cure TB

    TB is treated in sanatoria, with a strict regimen of bed-rest, fresh air at all times – patients are even moved outside in their beds in all weathers – a healthy diet and a gradual increase in activity levels.

  • Discovery

    Robert Koch identifies that TB is caused by an organism, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

  • Human trials

    The first human trials of the vaccine Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), an attenuated version of Mycobaterium bovis (Bovine TB), are launched.

  • Finding the cure

    Doctors Schatz, Bugie and Waksman announced the discovery of a drug called ‘Streptomycin‘ and that the first patient had been successfully treated with the drug.

  • Another Drug discovered

    Doctors Robizek and Selikoff at Seaview Hospital, New York, use a new drug called ‘Isoniazid‘ to treat TB patients.

  • Vaccination effective

    A survey of 50,000 children showed an 80% reduction in infection rate following the BCG vaccination, leading to its introduction in secondary schools in the UK. At the time, those most at risk of TB in the UK were young adults in industrialised settings. The USA opts not to use BCG after their research showed contrary conclusions.

  • Drug-resistant

    First outbreak of drug-resistant TB in the US.

  • Global Emergency

    The World Health Organization (WHO) declares TB ‘a global emergency’ with deaths from TB higher than any previous year in history. WHO estimates that one third of the world’s population is latently infected with TB, leading to 7-8 million cases of active TB – and 1.3-1.6 million deaths, annually.

  • 100 percent drug-resistant TB

    The Clinical Infectious Diseases Journal reports cases of totally drug-resistant TB (TDR-TB) in India.