Feb

World TB Day coming up March 24th: Tuberculosis past and present

Posted by benniefinch on February 25th, 2025 Posted in: Blog

A healthcare provider in a lab coat. March 24 is World TB Day. Talk with your patients and prevent TB in your community. Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease that usually attacks the lungs. But it can also attack other parts of the body, including the kidneys, spine, and brain.

Each year, we recognize World TB Day on March 24 commemorating the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis (TB).

The Public Health Museum in Tewksbury, Massachusetts has been an active partner with NNLM for many years. You may remember them from the NNLM Discovery Podcast “Outbreak!” which introduces the museum’s summer program for high school students. We thought it fitting to ask them to share a bit about the museum and expertise on the history of tuberculosis in the United States and how this relates to public health today. They also shared some images of items from their collection. The following comes from Dr. Alfred DeMaria, Jr. MD.

Please introduce your organization and yourself.

Incorporated in 1991, the Public Health Museum in Tewksbury, Massachusetts opened in September 1994. The Museum strives to preserve artifacts and records of our nation’s history in public health and serve as a resource to the community to educate and promote public health initiatives that address current health issues. Exhibits cover diseases such as polio, HIV/AIDS, smallpox and tuberculosis, as well as nursing, mental health, oral health and pharmaceutical history. On the grounds of Tewksbury Hospital, that originated as the Tewksbury Almshouse in 1854, the museum preserves the intake and admission records of the hospital and provides genealogy services. The museum also preserves archives for Massachusetts public health organizations and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The museum provides educational programs, both virtual and in person, year-round, with special programs celebrating Public Health Week in April.

I am a member of the Board of Directors of the museum since 2002 and past president. Prior to joining the board, I was an adviser to the museum. Currently, I am a volunteer at the museum actively involved in organizing and inventorying archives held by the museum and providing guided tours.

Can you share a bit about the historical context of tuberculosis (TB) in the United States?

Up until the 20^th Century, tuberculosis (TB, or consumption or phthisis as it was once known) was the single most frequent cause of death in the United States, accounting for about 30% of deaths. With the discovery of the infectious cause in 1882 followed by the introduction of x-rays for diagnosis, skin-testing to detect infection, and case detection and isolation, TB deaths fell 5-fold by the time curative treatment became available after World War II and another 200-fold since then with the administration of curative treatment. However, TB never went away.

Are there things related to TB we should be aware of now?

On a global level, TB is still among the top 10 of killers.

In the U.S., TB affects often marginalized and sometimes difficult to reach populations, as well as people with underlying immune compromise. In a state like Massachusetts, case detection and recognition are challenging, and those who have active TB need to be supported through isolation and often difficult issues related to treatment. The disease is stigmatizing, and treatment is prolonged, needs to be adhered to carefully and may be associated with unpleasant side effects. TB prevention and control still demands considerable resource commitment on the part of local public health. Although case rates are low, effectively keeping them low requires all components of the public health services required when rates were high, but at a lower scale.

Please share any upcoming events or collections that might be of interest.

TB Exhibit Case at the Public History Museum

TB Exhibit Case at the Public Health Museum

The Public Health Museum has an exhibit on TB that covers a wide variety of topics on the history of TB, medical and public health response, and population and social impact.

In June 2024, the Public Health Museum opened a new exhibit on HIV/AIDS focusing on the very difficult years of this pandemic during the 1980s and 1990s, and how things have changed mostly for the better. However, HIV infection, like TB, has not gone away.

In the near future, an exhibit comparing the influenza pandemic of 1918 with COVID-19 will be opening.

On April 2, 2025, I will be presenting the 5^th Annual Thomas Q. Garvey Public Health Lecture on the history of tuberculosis in Massachusetts and public health efforts to control TB, with the lessons this presents for the present.