I believe that in many urban areas in the early 20th century, and later in some places, something like 80 to 90% of people had TB infections, but only a minority developed long-term or fatal illness.
My mother had lung X-rays as an adult which indicated that she had probably had TB as a child, but obviously recovered. It was/is very different if TB is introduced somewhere where it has not previously been endemic, and where people have not developed resistance. Some Native American communities were almost wiped out as a result of suddenly being exposed to TB infections carried by white settlers. Ann In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "Dorian E. Gray" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Debra wondered... > > > Also I was wondering about TB - before antibiotics did people recover > > spontaneously, or did the people thought to be threatened who didn't > > actually die not really have consumption in the first place. > > Yes, I believe some people did recover, due simply to their own body's being > able to fight the disease off. I've read of several cases of women who > lived in Dublin's tenements in the first half of the 20th century (where TB > was endemic) later having chest x-rays and being asked "when did you have > TB?". They hadn't even known they'd contracted and recovered from the > disease, probably because they were too busy nursing family members at the > time. > -- ________________________________________ Girlsown mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] For self-administration and access to archives see http://home.it.net.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/girlsown For FAQs see http://www.club-web.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/girlsown/faq-0.htm
