The AIDS epidemic and countries that refuse to follow the standard medical treatments (thank you very much, Russia) have helped TB make a roaring comeback - something everyone in the world should be concerned about. Then the bacteria that cause the disease began to become drug-resistant. For about 40 years, it was all but defeated. Easily spread through coughing, sneezing and even breathing, the disease had no effective treatments until the mid-20th century. But what would have made it truly stand out as different from the wikipedia article? This is the question authors have to ask in topical writing today.ĭid you know that all five Bronte sisters, along with their mother and brother, died of tuberculosis? The body-destroying disease is known to have afflicted Homo erectus, an ancestor of modern humans. The book offers depth, it characterizes the main players more deeply, and also highlights the injustices. Not because it suggests anything about Murphy's work, but because if I were researching TB why would I spend the time to read this book instead of just going over the key points. Still, the basic outline for this entire book can be found in the wikipedia article, which bothers me.
The narrative and depth provides the aspect to this book that makes it more vital than what one would find simply on the internet. Because the answer to TB was major change in municipal planning and local government agendas, there was wide inertia and resistance. The disbelief is so much like the current disbelief about climate change. I knew my great grandpa Christensen when he was old, and he was born in the 1880s, just about the time Koch first identified TB bacteria. Even fewer than 100 years ago, it was difficult for this idea to take hold in some ways. It's always shocking to me how recently we are talking about people not believing in 'germ theory' as the great explanation of major diseases. He builds up TB as a 'character' almost, that gains depth without being anthropomorphized or trivialized in the process. The question of resistance to antibiotics is the big finish this story is all leading toward. The best thing about this story is that while it is topical, Murphy found the narrative thread and followed it.
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