Tuberculosis-An Ancient Scourge

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), and has been present in the human population since antiquity; fragments of the spinal column from Egyptian mummies from 2400 BCE show definite signs of TB. The term ‘phthisis’, i.e. consumption, appears first in the Greek literature. Around 460 BCE, Hippocrates identified phthisis as the most widespread disease of the times, and noted that it was almost always fatal. Due to common phthisis-related fatalities, he wrote something no doctor would dare write today; he warned his colleagues against visiting TB patients in late stages of the disease, because their inevitable deaths might damage the reputations of the attending physicians. Exact pathological and anatomical descriptions of the disease began to appear in the 17^th century. In his Opera Medica of 1679, Sylvius was the first to identify actual tubercles as a consistent and characteristic change in the lungs and other areas of consumptive patients. He also described their progression to abscesses and cavities. The earliest references to the infectious nature of the disease appeared in the 17^th century Italian medical literature. Although victims of TB occur all over the globe, this disease posses a tough challenge in the developing countries, which accounts for about 95% of all TB cases.