TUBERCULOSIS – [II]

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 106, 4 July 1941, Page 8

TUBERCULOSIS – [II]

(Written for "The Listener" by DR.

H. B.

TURBOTT

Director of

the Division of School Hygiene, Health Department.)

origin of tuberculosis, its symptoms, and its easy spread, Now to consider the early detection, before one knows it is in the body, and before it has had time to do much damage! Modern science must help us. Perhaps a little history will be of interest at this point. There is evidence that tuberculosis — it was known as phthisis (this funny little word is pronounced "thysis") — afflicted the early as evidence of it has been found in mummified bodies. Hippocrates, the renowned Greek physician, who lived from 460 to 377 B.C., and who is called the Father of Medicine, knew about it, but it was not until the end of the seventeenth century that the cause of this malign disease was first suspected. An English doctor discovered positively that tubercles-little modules like grains of at week I dealt with the

sand found in the lungs of phthisis vic-tims-were associated with the malady. Laennec, a Frenchman who invented the stethoscope, and who himself died from phthisis, and Pasteur, the father of preventive medicine, also _ contributed greatly to modern enlightenment, but it wasi not until 1882 that a German country doctor, Robert Koch, proved that the tubercle bacillus was the direct and only cause of tuberculosis-in other words, he proved that there can be no tuberculosis without a tuberculosis germ. It was from this point that science moved forward at a more rapid and more confident pace. The Tuberculin Test By means of what is known as the tuberculin test, it is very easy to find out whether a person is infected. The test is simple and harmless, and is one of medical science’s most valuable aids, particularly in detecting the beginnings | of tuberculosis in children. A specially (Continued on next page)

TUBERCULOSIS (Continued from previous page) prepared drop of fluid is injected into the arm. If, in two days, there is a raised spot rather like a mosquito bite, possibly red in colour, at the site of the injection, the test is positive. A positive reaction need cause no alarm, but the red spot must be regarded as a warning signal. It indicates that the body has been invaded by tuberculosis germs, and that possibly normal bodily resistance has overcome them. If the test is negative, that is when no redness or swelling occurs, it means that the germs have not got round to you yet. Hence the negative test, especially in children, should be repeated after some time has elapsed. In the United States of America, where 200 people die daily from tuberculosis, the authorities insist that children should be tested once a year from baby- . hood on. A tuberculin test taken once a year would date the time of the infection, and thus help greatly in the

search for the source of the infection. If spreaders of the disease can be traced, then medical men are enabled to battle with it on more even terms. Normally, a positive reaction means that the infection is present, and that, given suitable conditions, the disease could develop. Any deterioration in health and bodily resistance gives the germ the looked-for chance. The body may be brought to a low state of health through illness. Causes of lowered vitality are: too strenuous exercise, overstudy, over-work, too little sleep, improper diet, or insufficient food. Poor health and lowered vitality allow the germ to take active root. The next aid after a positive tuberculin test is the X-ray. This shows at a glance whether the infection is still working or is overcome by body resistance and healed. We will discuss it next article. (Next week: "Tuberculosis" (3), by DR. H, B. TURBOTT.)