Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published Aug. 31, 2005

Never underestimate a germ

Never underestimate the power and adaptability of germs. That unseen population is just as much a threat and as deadly as terrorists. Their goal is to attack and kill. Tuberculosis is one example. For centuries people worldwide died of a lung condition often called the white plague or consumption. In many parts of the world it was the chief cause of death and in 1909 the United States listed it as the chief killer.

It was not until 1882 that a German medical scientist, Robert Kock, pinpointed the culprit responsible for the disease. It was the tubercle bacillus, a rod-like bacteria that grew into serpentine cords in highly virulent cases. Kock is often called the father of bacteriology. Earlier he had isolated the anthrax bacillus and the year after his work on tuberculosis he found the bacilli that caused cholera. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1905.

A Frenchman, Jean Antoine Villeman, had proved the disease was infectious in 1885. Before that many believed it was hereditary. As more research was done, it became clear the disease flourished in highly populated areas and that poor hygiene was a contributing factor. The public was warned that the mouth should be covered when coughing or sneezing because the droplets which were emitted held hundreds of <I>tubercle bacillus<I> and even worse they remained alive floating in the air for hours. Later several states passed laws against spitting because of the danger of transmission.

Before there was X-ray, diagnosis was made by physical examination and there was still no medicine to fight the germs. The only treatment was rest, good nutrition and hygiene. Altitude therapy became another option and many patients headed west for the mountains and sunshine. New Mexico became a prime destination.

At first the only way to travel there was on the Santa Fe Trail and many died on the trail. When the railroad opened in the 1880s the traffic increased and passengers "chasing the cure" filled the cars. They were lured by advertising calling the country Nature's Own Spa, The Well Country and the Health-Sufferers Paradise. Slogans appeared - "Where the Sick Get Well and the Well Get Prosperous" or another said "Getting Well in Friendly Country."

When New Mexico's Fort Stanton ended its military service, it became the first tuberculosis hospital in the United States and was designated as the U.S. Merchant Marine hospital for tuberculosis in 1899.

"Albuquerque - Heart of the Health Country" was the slogan used by the town during the 1920s and '30s. Town fathers considered they had two industries, the railroad and tuberculosis. The latter was so good tax exemptions were granted for water and sewer hookup fees for new sanatoriums. Eventually there were 17 and so many were on the main route in town locals called it TB Avenue. The patients were called "lungers" and in the 1920s it was estimated that ten percent of the state's population consisted of tuberculosis patients.

The battle against the disease improved after antibiotics came on the scene. In 1900 the United States had 194 cases per 100,000 population. In 1960 it dropped to 6 per 100,000 and was listed as the 16th cause of death.

Now in 2005 it was reported recently that TB cases are climbing in Tennessee. On August 27 a headline read "Tuberculosis alarms WHO." The text said the World Health Organization ended a week-long meeting after declaring tuberculosis an African emergency which kills more than half-million people annually. Since 1990 the number of cases in Africa has quadrupled and continues to rise.

Never underestimate the power and adaptability of germs.

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday. She may be reached at ebrush@frontiernet.net