Health and Temperance

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 8, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 26.

Health and Temperance.

THE GERMS OF CONSUMPTION.

THE report of the pathologists of the board of health concerning the manner in which tuberculosis is transmitted from animals to man, and from one human being to another, deals with a subject to which the attention of sanitarians and physicians in all parts of the civilized world has recently been directed. We have frequently spoken of the remarkable discoveries made in the last few years by bacteriologists with respect to the minute organisms that are the cause, either directly or indirectly, of infectious diseases.

Among the diseases that are transmitted by means of a characteristic bacillus or microbe is this dread malady, consumption, to which are due one-seventh of the recorded deaths in this city. The board's pathologists declare that tuberculosis is a "distinctly preventable disease," that it is not directly inherited, and that it is acquired by the direct transmission of the tubercle bacillus or germ from the sick to the healthy. It has been held by some that while a majority of cases are caused by a direct transmission of the microbes, entering the system with food or air, others are really inherited. The board's pathologists do not seem to admit that in any instance the malady is inherited, and this conclusion is in accordance with the recent tendency of research in this field. The introduction of the disease depends largely, however, upon the physical condition of those who are exposed to infection, and it should be noted that the children of tuberculous persons may be peculiarly susceptible to infection because of inherited physical weakness.

It is pointed out that the mortality due to tuberculosis may be decreased by thorough disinfection and by measures taken to prevent the pollution of the air by the germs or bacilli. As it is well-known that the germs may be transmitted to human beings from tuberculous cows and beef cattle in meat and milk, it is shown that for the protection of the public there should be a most rigid official inspection of such animals. The Nation and the States are spending great sums of money every year in suppressing pleuro-pneumonia by condemning and killing all cattle that have this disease. This action is not taken for the preservation of the health of human beings. The measures for the suppression of tuberculosis in cows and beef cattle should not be less severe, for in this case the public health suffers, and the human death rate is increased by the prevalence of the disease among the animals.—New York Times.