The public can be reached through various channels, chief among which are free lectures, distribution of literature and instruction in the schools. In other States and countries much has been accomplished in the fight against tuberculosis. As an example, in Germany the mortality from conIsumption has been reduced one-third in the last twentyfive years. What has been done elsewhere may be done here. But to accomplish this the committee needs money. It can not have too much money, for there is no end to the work needed to be done. It has therefore been deemed wise to appeal to the people of the State of Georgia through the public press. The committee feel that they have a right to expect that every person in the State should contribute something, according to his means, to this cause, for there is scarcely a home in Georgia from which consumption has not claimed a victim. The work undertaken is for the good of the people. If it is to be prosecuted to a successful issue the people must support it. It is truly a vital issue, for to-day there are thousands in this great State who are afflicted with tuberculosis and who owe their unhappy condition to just one thing— IGNORANCE. In order that our work may be facilitated and made effective we request that you open a subscription list and receive contributions to be turned over to the Treasurer of the committee for the purpose above stated. We also earnestly request that you second our endeavors by lending the influence of your paper in the battle against the "GREAT WHITE PLAGUE." Respectfully, COMMITTEE ON TUBERCULOSIS, We believed that these letters would bring to the attention of the public the efforts being made by the State Medical Association and be an opening wedge for future communications through the press. These letters were published in our large cities and elsewhere. The amount of public enthusiasm they aroused is evinced by the fact that not one cent was donated the committee in response to this appeal. Following the lead of workers elsewhere in the crusade against tuberculosis the committee empowered its members to give public lectures on behalf of the committee on the various phases of tuberculosis. Such lectures have been delivered by members of the committee whenever occasion has presented. Because of the fact that the lay press reaches every home in Georgia, the following card was sent to the editors of the papers throughout the State: "Please Answer Following Question and Mail this Card at Once. If copy is furnished you, will you publish, from time to time, articles on tuberculosis; its cause, prevention and cure? Said articles will be eight in number, written in a popular style-may be understood by any one, and are intended to educate the general public how to fight tuberculosis. Respectfully, ANSWER PAPER COMMITTEE ON TUBERCULOSIS, of the Medical Association of Georgia. In reply to this invitation forty-two editors signified their readiness to publish matter furnished by the committee, and the following letters were formulated and sent to them for publication in their respective journals: TUBERCULOSIS. LETTER NO. I. WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT DOES. The disease known as tuberculosis is as old as history. It affects the young and the old. It enters alike the palace of the rich and the hovel of the poor. It spares neither age nor sex nor condition. Nor is man alone its victim. Among domestic animals it is quite common. Cattle are frequently affected by it; goats and hogs and less commonly, dogs, cats, horses and sheep. Even fowls and reptiles are afflicted with a species of tuberculosis similar to that found in the human being. Tuberculosis is common in almost every quarter of the globe. It is, however, a disease which flourishes in crowded quarters of large cities where the conditions are unsanitary and life strenu ous. The disease is caused by a germ. This germ, called the "bacillus tuberculosis," is a very small, rod-shaped plant. All bacteria are plants, not animals, and many bacteria. are not only not harmful, but are so essential that life could not long exist without them. Such are the bacteria that cause putrefaction and fermentation, and those that through their action upon the soil, during the progress of their growth, break it up into simple compounds, such as may be appropriated to the use of the higher plants which in turn are the food of animal life. Comparatively there are only a few harmful bacteria, and among these the tubercle bacillus holds high rank. More people die of tuberculosis than of diphtheria and smallpox and scarlet fever and typhoid fever and yellow fever and plague combined. The tubercle bacillus enters the body in one of three ways: First-Through inhalation, into the lungs, or throat or nasal passages. Second-By ingestion, eating tuberculous food or drinking tuberculous milk. Third-By inoculation, through a wound of the skin or lining of the mouth. When the tubercle bacilli gain entrance to the body in one of the above ways they may be killed by the cells of the body or they may simply be covered up and kept from doing harm, unless they "break jail," or they may produce the disease at the point where they lie. In the latter case the bacilli multiply, eventually an ulcer is formed and from this point the bacilli spread to more distant parts, either through the blood or if the ulcer is on the lungs, by being inhaled or by being coughed up and swallowed, in which case they may produce intestinal tuberculosis. As they grow they produce a poison, known as a toxin, and it is largely due to the presence of this poison in the system that the loss of flesh and other distressing symptoms are due. As the disease progresses, other bacteria enter the body and invade the tissues that have been weakened by the presence of the tubercle bacilli. These are the common germs that cause suppuration, the so-called pus organisms, and any case of "mixed infection," that is, one complicated by the presence of the pus germs, is al ways more severe. The germs of tuberculosis always come from a case of tuberculosis. They do not multiply outside of the animal body under ordinary conditions, though they may be grown upon certain substances, like beef extract with glycerine and other so-called "culture media," and have been by this means very thoroughly studied by numerous investigators. From this brief review of what tuberculosis is we may formulate as fact No. I the following conclusion: Tuberculosis is an infectious, communicable disease. due to the presence in the tissues, usually in the lungs, of the germ of consumption called the tubercle bacillus. Next to the lungs the intestines are the most common site of beginning tuberculosis, though the disease may start in any part of the body and may be limited to the part or may become general. The statement has been repeatedly made that with the exception of pneumonia, as many people die from tuberculosis as from all other contagious diseases combined. It is estimated that in the United States alone there die yearly from tuberculosis over one hundred and fifty thousand souls. Let us then remember as fact No. 2: Tuberculosis causes at least ten per cent. of all deaths. But the condition is much worse than this, for the majority of the victims of tuberculosis are at the age when they have just become productive, when they are fitted to go out into the world as wage-earners. The disease is pre-eminently one of young adult life. Between the ages of fifteen and forty, one-third of all deaths are due to tuberculosis. Between the ages of twenty and twenty-four, 42 per cent. of the deaths from all causes are due to tuberculosis. Now, if I were writing facts like these about some disease prevailing only in China, I should expect you to be mildly interested. I should expect you to sigh, shake your head and if you are a man, light a fresh cigar, and forget the matter in the press of business. But here are well-substantiated statistics, for they have been computed by life-insurance firms for the sake of money-getting, and they are not about China alonethey are true of our time and of our place. If smallpox were killing nearly one-half of our young men and maidens, do you think for a moment that you would sit with folded hands or watch the slaughter with listless eye? I think not! We would have ten pesthouses, if need be, and business would stagnate and cheeks would blanch and stout hearts would quail. But the marvel of marvels is that we remain so inactive, so apathetic, while this "pestilence that walketh in darkness" and this "destruction that wasteth at noonday," stalks among us and reaps the fruit of promise before our very eyes. It is with the hope that the public will awaken to the necessity for action that this and the other articles on the subject which will appear in the public press are written. What then is tuberculosis? A communicable disease caused by the tubercle bacillus. |