Hanna Moser
Societal Morphing
Tuberculosis is a disease that has altered the lives of many generations of humans. This disease dates to the Neolithic Era of human history and has killed many people since then (Aberth 89). TB is widely known as an impairment to the respiratory system, specifically the lungs (Barnard 28). A bacterium causes this disease and includes the symptoms of“coughing up bloody sputum, loss of hair, diarrhea, paleness of the skin with a flushed face (Aberth 95). In contrast with the small-pox pandemic, TB was transferred to humans through the domestication of goats rather than cows (Aberth 89). Like other pandemics, tuberculosis dented the demography of humans. In nineteenth-century Europe, TB killed almost a quarter of the population and affected Asia with similar death rates later in their industrialization period (Barnard 28). Although tuberculosis killed many people, this disease like no other, was wanted by humans. Indeed, TB is a biological disease with frightening characteristics, but the disease was more so desired than feared. Tuberculosis transformed society by altering the social interpretation of the disease throughout different eras of time.
Tuberculosis was declared a cultural disease in the Romantic Era of Europe. Romanticism was the popular culture movement in the nineteenth century and impacted the interpretation of the disease with the untraditional mindset that people desired the disease. During this time period, Romantics believed that “illness and appearance revealed inner truth” (Barnard 30). This mindset contributed to the desirability of the disease. Romantics desired the “inflamed cheeks and a thin ‘consumed’ body” (Barnard 30). The cultural stigma proposed that the people were healthy if they appeared this way. By having TB, people believed that these were “thought to be manifestations of an inner artistic fire” (Barnard 30). The symptoms displayed outside of the person’s body were defined as the character and the creativity of a person. The “inner artistic fire” is prompted through the promotion of the disease by famous people of the time. TB was an aspect of culture because famous people such as “Edgar Alan Poe, Robert Schumann, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau” (Aberth 94) contracted the disease and portrayed the disease as a status of artistic class.
The period of Romanticism is a trademark for the overall idea of “consumption” (Aberth 93). This idea refers to the engulfment of the disease into people’s lives that it was hardly perceived as a disease at all (Aberth 93). This tight entanglement of the disease in society emphasizes how TB is a social disease more so than a biological disease. The population was ignorant to the biological factors of the disease; therefore, quarantine was not an option like small pox. Humans understood how small pox spread; Romantics ignored the factors of contagion in hopes of contracting the disease. The societal alteration of mindset encourages the spread of the disease and promotes the overall importance to appear as if one is healthy. This falsified thought that TB is a healthy or a normal part of life, reveals the irony that the person is internally dying even if it doesn’t appear so on the outside.
The cultural ideals of Romanticism disintegrated after medical advancements. There was a shift in ideals during the age of microbes. This discovery of microbes’ dates circa 1800-1900s. This new flourishment of knowledge about the relationship between microbes and disease prompted many actions in response to sanitize society. The era of sanitation engaged new medical practices that aimed to rid of TB. Sanitariums were the most common methods in response to the new social reformation. Treatments such as “bed rest, fresh air, lung collapse, rib removal” (Barnard 32) and dietary restrictions were utilized in hopes to exterminate the disease. Society was scrapping at the overall treatment of TB with the inclinations to rid of the infected. The idea of altering society and the way humans behave towards the disease increased chances of survival. The combination of “control, isolation, diet, and improved living conditions worked” (Barnard 33). The mindset that TB is an acceptable, desired disease transitioned to the mindset that humans need to engage in absolute separation from the disease. The interpretation of the disease completely reversed from total “consumption” to total avoidance. This interpretation was altered through the increased medical knowledge in society.
As society continues to advance, humans discover new information on diseases. Today, society is concerned with the resistant strands of TB. Vaccines and antibiotics have been discovered and utilized frequently. The issue with this method of treatment stimulates growth for antibiotic resistance bacteria because there are many factors that can promote resistance. For example, a patient might not take all of the prescribed medication and this action encourages microbes to change their DNA to strengthen their species. Microbes become resistant to treatment and form stronger strands from exposure to antibiotics. There are two strands of TB that society is concerned with today: multi-drug resistant and extreme-drug resistant. This is a concern because the World Health Organization has documented “TB strains resistant to at least one antibiotic drug [are present] in every single country surveyed” (Aberth 96). The growth and diffusion of MDR TB and EDR TB creates a societal stigma of concern because there could come a time where all of the human population is annihilated by the strongest strain of TB. Fear of this happening is a current theme in society, instead of desirability or complete sanitation. The societal view of TB has morphed into a constant threat because humans are more medically advanced than before. The ignorance of TB is no longer, and society could be looking at a potential era of demise in the future.
There are leading factors that contribute to the pandemic status of TB. Industrialization of society catapulted the TB infection rate higher than ever before. During the European era of the Industrial Revolution, TB was able to thrive. The conditions of the Industrial Revolutions included “dramatic shifts of population from rural to urban settings” (Aberth 93). This social and economic movement encourages people to flock to the cities- where the living conditions are poor, cleanliness is scarce, residents are overcrowded and people are undernourished. These factors allowed microbes to pass person to person because “TB thrived in crowded conditions” (Barnard 28). People from rural setting were never exposed to these harsh conditions. Additionally, the movement to the city encouraged disease, but the threatening factor about TB is that it works “not in days or weeks but over years, striking when age, poor nutrition, overwork compromises a person’s immune system” (Barnard 28). The incubation period of TB is substantially longer than the 9-12 days of small pox (Aberth 75). In comparison to small pox and the plague, TB doesn’t reveal any symptoms for weeks or even months at a time. The incubation period is what contributes to today’s spiraling cases of TB because people have been infected, but they are unaware of the disease until the symptoms arrive later.
The unique aspect of TB is that the real pandemic has yet to occur. Society is feeding the disease with antibiotics and medical weapons with intentions to rid of the disease. TB’s ability to alter their DNA composition is a key component in the building up to pandemic status. This trait of TB shows that the strands can change more quickly than society can respond. The antibiotic resistant microbes create a stronger disease that cannot be fought. In addition to the antibiotic-resistant microbes, industrialization, poverty, and TB’s biological characteristics contribute to pandemic status of tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis continues to affect a portion of today’s population. Laura, a twenty-nine-year-old European resident, contracted TB in today’s modern society. She shared her story with UK’s National Tuberculosis Charity in order to raise awareness the disease. Laura was ready to go on a six-month, worldwide adventure with her husband until she discovered that she was infected with tuberculosis. She had been experiencing a periodic cough for about ten months and then she was diagnosed with pulmonary TB. Her life was turned upside down as she had to postpone her trip to recover. Laura shared that she was quarantined with a nine-pill regimen for three weeks. She pleads that having TB was the “most stressful time of [her] life and [she] wasn’t sure what [she] was most worried about: being homeless, being unemployed, travel worries, having tuberculosis, or the potential side effects of the treatment” (Laura 1). Luckily, the medication worked and Laura recovered with minimal complications. Her lung is partially healed from the treatments and she is now living her normal life. Laura’s personal account further emphasizes that society today interprets TB as a scary disease. The fear Laura expressed shows how the interpretation of TB has changed from the Romantic Era to now. Laura was not interested in her physical appearance based on the disease like the Romantics did. She was more concerned with surviving through the possible complications because TB is still a severe disease today. TB affected every aspect of her life and her story teaches us how the interpretation of the disease has changed.
Overall TB is still prevalent in today’s society and poses a threat to humans. This threat is increased when paired with AIDS. AIDS makes it easier for people to contract TB because AIDS destroys the body’s immune system (Aberth 96). The tight interaction between these two disease adds to the lingering threat of TB. The combination of the two instill more fear into society because “one person is infected every second” contributing to the third of the population that is already infected (Aberth 96). The inquisition of the potential relationship between TB and multiple other pandemics poses in interest because the world is susceptible to TB’s ‘perfect storm’ moment in the near future. Information providing the possible outcomes of TB and another disease would be eye opening considering the combination of TB and AIDS has negatively affected a portion of the world’s population.
Works Cited
Aberth, John. Plagues in World History. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2011.
Barnard, Bryn. Outbreak. Plagues That Changed History. Dragonfly Books. 2005.
The Truth About TB. N. d. Accessed 13 October
2017.
Thesis: names a distinct observation or argument (10 points):
“Tuberculosis transformed society by altering the social interpretation of the disease throughout different eras of time.” I think this is an overall topic that overviews the different time periods of TB that I expand on in the following paragraph.
Sufficient supporting detail: provides relevant evidence to support the thesis (10 points):
I incorporated three different eras of TB and how society viewed the disease. I also had details of the disease regarding biological characteristics, death rates, perfect storm, and antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Use of Sources: cites passages from quality sources that support the thesis and illustrate well the points given as supporting detail (10 points)
I feel like I did well incorporating the views of Aberth and Barnard to strengthen my paper.
Argument Development: arranges supporting detail and citations logically and effectively to make a solid case for the thesis. (10 points):
I develop my argument through the analysis of the romantic period, the sanitation period, and today’s society.
Contextual integration and analysis: Links the observation/argument accurately and thoughtfully within the context of a specific pandemic and across the collective phenomenon of pandemics generally. (10 points)
I link in other pandemics such as the plague, small pox, and AIDS. I examine how there are potential dangers in the future for a disease like TB. My thesis and support look at the social effects of the disease on a global scale.