Writing for Children.

Tuberculosis

Have you ever had a cough so bad, it lasted weeks? It brought up all kinds of nasty things, from stringy green mucus, occasionally stained with your own blood (unless you're a vampire and you've been drinking someone else's and that comes up instead.) Congratulations, you may have Tuberculosis. Or rather, my condolences- TB won't let you off lightly if you catch on too late. Tuberculosis is a serious illness that in one of its worst forms directly attacks the lungs. It is caused by a microbe named, "Mycobacterium tuberculosis" and the symptoms of TB are non-too-pleasant, not in theory and certainly not in practice.

From a persistent cough that can bring up phlegm flecked with blood, to wet, clingy night-sweats, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of weight, and so on, the list goes on and on. The end result, without medication... is death. Tuberculosis claimed so many people before the correct medication was brought to light, particularly in the Victorian age, but there is still some unlucky news. Despite having a cure, it does not always work for some unlucky smucks. It was good for the photographers though, who took pictures of the Victorians deceased, seeing as it had little impact on the appearance after death. Morbid? Well... they took a better picture when they were dead back then anyway, since any small movement made by the human body was caught by the camera. Inhaling the small microbes from coughing and sneezing is how you wind up catching this disease, similarly to the common cold, but don't be so paranoid! It's no way near as easy to catch, especially with the vaccine.

There is a vaccination (BCG) that is provided for TB, that works for 8/10 people and is only recommended for places that are high in risk for TB, such as India, Russia and China, but not everyone gets the vaccine, partially because not everyone has symptoms of TB; especially not in the modern day, because most people have immune systems capable of fighting the microbe. It can prevent it, if your body is kind enough to react correctly against it. Let's not forget there are a percentage of people who do overall reject vaccines, thinking they have some other remedy. Doctors recommend you have the vaccine if you are going to be in close contact with someone who has TB (if you really want to get so close to walking fleshy jar of infection and/or disease) and they test you if you have, juuuust in case... after all, it is contractible and I don't think you'd like to die from TB. It's a Messy way to go... I will tell you this- TB is surprisingly hard to acquire. You'd have to be very close to the person with it for quite a while, and even then, you may only be infected when found, which isn't as bad as having the full-blown disease. Now imagine it- you have been diagnosed with TB.

A short discussion- there is active TB active and latent TB. Active Tuberculosis is contagious, and spreads through your body in a dynamic fashion. Latent TB, is like a dormant volcano. Your body cannot kill the bacteria, but it can prevent the spread for a good long while. You won't have symptoms. You won't be contagious. But you will still have the bacteria in your body and over time, it can still become active. Now, you're going to be isolated when you become active. As much as possible, perhaps in your own home, perhaps in a hospital when you get worse. You'll be given your treatment over the course of a few weeks.

For your treatment, you can thank Robert Koch, (1843-1910) who discovered the bacterial causes of TB, without which you'd not have a cure. Unless, someone else found it... which is quite obviously not only possible, but probable. According to the NHS website, "in the last 20 years, TB cases have gradually increased, particularly among ethnic minority communities who are originally from countries where TB is more common." I would suggest that you remain very aware of the workings of your body. Not everything is as innocent as the common cold. In 2014, 6,500 cases were reported in England alone, which may seem a lot, however, the population for England is currently in the millions and is, of course, ever expanding.

I imagine you'll want to know some additional information on how TB is cured. Simple. It is cured (if you are able to cured, that is) through a course of antibiotics, but not by the same type, as you might be with a weaker infection. The antibiotics used to treat you will be different because some forms of TB know how to kill off your antibiotics, and then carry on it's way into your body. Multi-drug resistant TB is the worst kind, which is why TB must be treated correctly (incorrect treating is why MDR-TB forms in the first place) and the patient must take their antibiotics as instructed. MDR-TB is as contagious as normal TB. If a woman is pregnant with TB, she can still take the antibiotics safely, and both she and the baby should be fine- but with all things, there can be complications. The mother must complete six months of the antibiotics, otherwise the TB may return in a much more dangerous form, MDR-TB.

The baby is usually A-OK as long as TB is caught early, but there is the risk of having a small baby and of going into early labour which can causes complications in the birth. There very little chance of the mother passing it on in the womb, or to her new-born (lucky thing) unless of course she hasn't been treated. Then you aren't exactly lucky, are you... Did you know that even if you are infected with TB, you can still kiss people (so, who are you gonna kiss? Anyone? No one? Your mum?) and share food (why would you share food though?) among other things? Including sharing a toothbrush! Which, on a dental side, I don't really recommend. But how do you find out if you have TB, I hear you whimper. (Yes, you, you should be whimpering about now. If you aren't, maybe you should rethink that- I'm told that's the natural reaction.)

There are generally two ways Doctors tend to reply on. (Drumroll please) The first is a skin test, otherwise known as the Monteux test. A small amount of testing material is placed beneath the top layers of skin. A few days later, your doctor will look at the arm, checking for a bump. If a bump has developed, they will measure the bump and if it's a certain size- you're infected. Next comes mucus tests and chest x-rays, used to determine if the person has the disease, which is of course, the full-blown devastating experience. There are other skin tests, but the preferred is the Mantoux. Let me tell you, things these days are a lot better than they were prior- in the Victorian age, victims of TB were placed into a special hospital where they were kept away from the members of society that weren't sick. They could be placed into those pretty little places (I say, "pretty," those sanatoriums could be downright disturbing!) for years, mostly until they died. So, hey! At least you live in an era that not only almost certainly ensures survival, but knows how to treat those sickened by TB.

Speaking of Sanatoriums let's take a look into the history of one. Initially, sanatoriums were introduced for those with TB because there was no medication or cure for it at the time. As such, those with the illness were taken from society (sometimes forcefully) and placed into these places. One such place was San at Ninette. In 1962, mobile x-ray clinics were stationed there, one of the first preventive measures. In 1940s, developments in medications were made that meant that patients no longer needed to spend so much time inside of the hospital. In 1958, San at Ninetta shut off the treatment of TB completely, and it was opened up instead to long-term illness.

The timescale of the hospital provides a good timetable of the rise and fall of TB, but now for a more personal touch- Jon Stopford, had TB as a child. When asked to talk about it, these are the following points that he made. Born 1942, in the middle of the war. They had no money, but children got free pasteurised milk from cows- cows with TB. He was aged 11 when he first got it and back then, everyone had it. 5/7 children he knew got TB and ended up in the hospital. Four of them, he and his siblings, slept together in the same bed, when they were young. Girls slept in one bed, boys slept in the other, the constant close contact which caused spread of infection. He spent from 7th January (1957) to just before Christmas in White Abbey hospital. (Belfast) They were cured with injections of antibiotics and strepulation. He had TB as a child, it went dormant, when retested a few years later, it had reactivated. He said he felt tired with low energy, often had to go to bed early because he felt washed out. He, "Didn't feel low," as in depressed, just tired. They found it hard to exercise and do much other than go to sleep and curl up, listless, onto chairs. When he went to join the army, ten years later after he was fully cured, they tested him. To this day, TB is alive and thriving in it's bacteria form, becoming the worst strain yet seen in our lifetime.