Discovering Tuberculosis: A Global History, 1900 to the Present

by Christian W. McMillen

Tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, killing nearly two million people every year—more now than at any other time in history. While the developed world has nearly forgotten about TB, it continues to wreak havoc across much of the globe. In this interdisciplinary study of global efforts to control TB, Christian McMillen examines the disease’s remarkable staying power by offering a probing look at key locations, developments, ideas, and medical successes and failures since 1900. He explores TB and race in east Africa, in South Africa, and on Native American reservations in the first half of the twentieth century, investigates the unsuccessful search for a vaccine, uncovers the origins of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Kenya and elsewhere in the decades following World War II, and details the tragic story of the resurgence of TB in the era of HIV/AIDS. Discovering Tuberculosis explains why controlling TB has been, and continues to be, so difficult.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, History, History Of Medicine, History Of Science, World History, Science

355 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 28, 2015

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be writing a more complete review of this for incorporation into a Small Things Considered piece on the topic of current tuberculosis vaccine research, addressing some of the science behind what this book addresses from a primarily historical perspective. While the author is a historian and this realm is the primary focus of this book, it obviously contains some medical and scientific details. But it should be easily accessible for any lay reader. As a microbiologist familiar more with the bacteria than the disease and its treatment history I found a lot in this that I hadn't been aware of, particularly in the earlier periods when Tb was frequently thought to be more easily contracted by non-whites. The book covers these early views steeped in racism and colonialism through the data that argued against such interpretations. It then covers the development of the Tb vaccine and consistent questions/uncertainties of its effectiveness. Finally the book covers the more modern - but at this point hardly new - threat of Tb in the face of HIV. Throughout, McMillen addresses the question of why Tb continues to be a scourge despite the century of trying to combat it. Overall a good historical coverage of the topic. At times I was annoyed at repetitiveness in the text, and I would have appreciated a chapter looking more in future prospects of Tb vaccines, and more of a scientific discussion of the issues behind this whole history. Recommended for a general audience with interest in history, medicine, and global humanitarian health efforts.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fantastic read on how the structures involved in TB control have continued to make the same mistakes over and over.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy útil para mi literature review