Anchorage Museum to open tuberculosis exhibit

Published 2007 January 9 history 5 Comments

notice from

http://www.adn.com/life/story/8548663p-8442489c.html

Museum to open tuberculosis exhibit
The Anchorage Museum will open an exhibit Jan. 21 called “The Forgotten Plague: Alaska’s Fight Against Tuberculosis.” Dr. Robert Fortuine, who has written books about the topic, will give a talk during the opening from 1 to 3 p.m. The exhibit — which includes photographs, stories, artifacts and more — will remain open through April 1.

deadline

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Alaska’s greatest killer was tuberculosis, now commonly known as TB. Considered by many to be a death sentence, the disease was particularly severe among rural Alaska Natives. In 1900, tuberculosis was recognized as one of the state’s greatest health threats, and the Bureau of Education established a health care system to fight the highly contagious disease.

Eventually, Alaskans gained control over the disease thanks to the combined efforts of many agencies, doctors, nurses and volunteers. The Forgotten Plague presents photographs, stories, artifacts and voices from Alaska’s battle against tuberculosis to tell a complex and compelling story of a tragic disease that is still not eradicated. The Forgotten Plague is sponsored by the American Lung Association of Alaska, the James T. Grabman Memorial Fund and the Rasmuson Foundation.

http://www.anchoragemuseum.org/changing_exbB2.asp

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5 Responses to “Anchorage Museum to open tuberculosis exhibit”

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1 mpb 2007 January 9 at 5:17 pm

I should note that even though we think of TB as a lung disease, it isn’t. The bacterium can infect bone resulting in fused joints, fragile bones with pits, loss of growth plates, septicemia, lifelong crippling consequences even if the disease is no longer active, etc.

Della Cook and Jane Buikstra are the principal scientists’ works to search for. References include
The Bioarchaeology of Tuberculosis: A Global View on a Reemerging Disease, by Charlotte A. Roberts and Jane E. Buikstra, University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0-8130-2643-1, Pubdate: 10/30/2003

Tuberculosis in the New World. Jennifer Raff, Della Collins Cook, Frederika Kaestle. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 101(Suppl. II): 25-27, 2006
http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/p03.pdf

Morse, D. 1967 Tuberculosis. In Diseases in Antiquity, edited by D. Brothwell, W. Dawson. Springfield.

Tuberculose osseuse et articulaire des membres
Peripheral bone and joint tuberculosis
E. Pertuiset
Abstract
Extraspinal sites account for half of bone and joint tuberculosis cases which are still frequent in areas of endemic tuberculosis, and which are not exceptional in developed countries among immigrants and immunocompromised patients. Bone and joint tuberculosis results from reactivation of resting tubercle bacilli and contains small amounts of bacilli. Two types have been identified: tuberculous arthritis and tuberculous osteomyelitis. All sites can be involved. Main characteristics are a subacute or chronique clinical disease, inconstant constitutional symptoms and inflammatory syndrome, presence of radiological signs, cold abscesses, draining sinus. Tuberculous arthritis leads to progressive joint destruction. MRI is a very effective method for local assessment. In some cases, diagnosis is based on an evidence of associated visceral or lymph node tuberculosis. In most cases, diagnosis is obtained by a local biopsy demonstrating bacteriological and/or histological proof. The prognostic depends on an early diagnosis, on a good therapeutic compliance and on the patient’s immunological status. A majority of experts recommends a minimal duration of antituberculous chemotherapy of 9 to 12 months. Surgery, which has become less frequent, may be either an early surgery (abscess drainage, synovectomy or joint debridment, etc.) or a secondary surgery including arthrodesis and joint replacement. Total hip or knee arthroplasty need a quiescent period of sufficient duration and has to be associated with pre- and postoperative chemotherapy.”
http://tinyurl.com/y8p53a
EMC – Rhumatologie-Orthopédie
Volume 1, Issue 6 , November 2004, Pages 463-486

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2 mpb 2007 July 17 at 11:15 am

Public health researcher dies

SMITHSBURG – George Wills Comstock, an epidemiologist whose research helped shape the U.S. response to tuberculosis in the 1940s and ’50s, died Sunday…. He was 92.

Dr. Comstock, of Smithsburg, was a physician who worked in the U.S. Public Health Service for 20 years and taught at Johns Hopkins University for more than 40.

From 1947 to 1951, he ran the first trials of a vaccine called the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis in Georgia and Alabama. The studies found that the vaccine was largely ineffective against TB, which led federal public health officials to decide against vaccinating U.S. children with it.

In 1957, Dr. Comstock conducted research in Bethel, Alaska, where TB was rampant, and demonstrated the effectiveness of the drug isoniazid in preventing TB.

In 1962, Dr. Comstock founded the Johns Hopkins Training Center for Public Health Research and Prevention in Hagerstown….

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/07_17-45/TOP

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3 mpb 2007 July 17 at 12:18 pm

“— George Wills Comstock”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070717/deaths/#

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1 Dr Comstock « Grassroots Science Trackback on 2007 July 17 at 9:43 pm
2 Robert Fortuine M.D. 1934 to 2009 « Grassroots Science Trackback on 2009 May 14 at 6:22 pm

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