I was reading the Wikipedia page about World Tuberculosis Day, which falls today, March 24. I had not realized that in the 1880's TB was the cause of death for one in seven people worldwide. That's roughly 14%. Current numbers that I found by searching online suggest that the world's current population is around 8.2 billion and that about 1.25 million people die annually from TB, for a percentage of about .0002. Many more people, but a significantly smaller percentage of them overall. So even though it is still with us, we seem to have improved a little in keeping people healthy.
March 24 was inaugurated as World Tuberculosis Day in 1982 because it was the 100th anniversary of when Dr. Robert Koch announced in 1882 that he had discovered the bacterium that causes tuberculosis: Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The purpose of World Tuberculosis Day is to draw attention to the fact that it still kills far too many people even now, in pretty much every country, including the United States.
Many well known people historically have suffered from tuberculosis. There's even a page devoted to them on Wikipedia! Just a few names I noted are Aubrey Beardsley, Sarah Bernhardt, Anne and Emily Bronte, Anton Chekhov, Frederic Chopin, Edward VI of England, W. C. Fields, Robert Heinlein, Vivien Leigh, Christy Mathewson, Amedeo Modigliani, Moliere, Edvard Munch, Florence Nightingale, George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), Junipero Serra, Igor Stravinsky, and Henry David Thoreau.
I wrote about World Tuberculosis Day in 2016 and had only one relative at that time whom I knew had died of TB. In searching through my family tree program, I now have found three more cousins who died of tuberculosis. I as yet have not found an ancestor who died of TB, although I have a note that one of my Hananiah Gaunt grandfathers supposedly did. I'm still looking for documentation of that.
Henry H. Gauntt, son of Hananiah Selah Gaunt and Margaret S. Scott, died October 16, 1916 in Lumberton, Burlington County, New Jersey. He was 42 years old and is my 1st cousin 3x removed.
Robert Francis Gauntt, son of John Benjamin Gaunt and Sarah Virginia Woolston, died July 17, 1917 in Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was only 28 years old and is my 1st cousin 2x removed.
Ridgway Eacritt Zelley, son of Joseph Ridgway Zelley and Sarah R. Eacritt, died September 10, 1928 in Amarillo, Potter County, Texas. He was 50 years old and is my 3rd cousin 2x removed.
Although the primary affliction we hear about spreading through World War I boot camps is influenza, tuberculosis also was a problem. What's interesting about Robert Francis Gauntt is that his draft registration, dated June 5, 1917 — only six weeks before he died — indicates that he was having lung problems then. If he was already sick, he probably wouldn't have made it through induction, so he appears to have acquired tuberculosis without being drafted and going to boot camp.
Did not know about World Tuberculosis Day. So often TB spreads in crowded tenement neighborhoods, which is where some immigrant ancestors in my tree lived...and ultimately died of this disease.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that none of the TB deaths I found in my family were any of immigrant ancestors or their family members. Instead, the three additional deaths were all in my Gaunt/Gauntt family, which has been in this country for hundreds of years.
DeleteInteresting blog post. Now I want to to this as well. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diane. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if I have inspired you, I feel very proud.
DeleteThank you for this information about TB. I found four people in my tree who died of tuberculosis, one an infant.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it's going to be hard to find someone who doesn't have a TB death in the family tree.
Delete