5:00:00 PM
The
Curability of Tuberculosis
Q. Can tuberculosis be cured?
A. Yes. Within the
last fifty years wonderful progress has been made in the treatment of cases of
tuberculosis. It is now known that even where the disease is fairly well advanced
a practical cure may be accomplished in the
majority of cases.
In sanatoria where the best methods are employed, the proportion of recoveries is reported
to be about sixty per cent. It should be said in this connection, however, that
only hopeful. cases are received. Advanced cases are not accepted for treatment.
It is of the
highest importance that in every existing case of
tuberculosis measures should be taken for
the protection of other members of the
family who are not yet
infected and to give the infected person every
possible chance for recovery. In the writer's opinion advanced cases of tuberculosis and all
so-called cases of open tuberculosis, that
is, cases in which the sputum contains tubercle germs, should be placed under
quarantine the same as persons suffering from
leprosy and other
infectious diseases. When the necessary
isolation can be secured in the patient's own home this may
be done but otherwise the patient
should be placed in a hospital where the necessary care may be received.
It is quite impossible, however, to deal with this
great plague by the hospital plan alone.
Each year one hundred and fifty thousand people die of this disease. For
each one that dies there are, according to our best authorities, eight living
persons suffering from the same malady; hence there are to be found in the
United States not less than one million two hundred thousand persons suffering
from tuberculosis, or more than one per cent of the entire population. It is impossible
to gather all these persons into hospitals; they must be dealt with in their
own homes. In every case in which a person suffering from tuberculosis is found
in a family, the entire family should be taken under care and treatment. When a
father or mother is infected by the disease most of the other members of the
family are likely to be infected by the disease and will sooner or later show
characteristic symptoms.