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114
PROTECTION AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS BY B.C.G. VACCINE
Nature of Tuberculous Infection.
For centuries man has had little to defend him against what
was for a long time considered to be malignant fate in the form of a
wasting disease known as "consumption" or "phthisis
It was in the year 1882 that Koch was able to isolate, from the
sputum of persons suffering from "phthisis the cause of the
disease—a germ called the Tubercle Bacillus, known popularly
as " T.B.".
When a person with tuberculosis of the lungs coughs, he sprays
the germs into the surrounding air for a distance of several feet;
and, as each germ is surrounded by a fatty envelope which resists
drying, it can remain alive in dust for a considerable time. We
cannot hope to escape infection, to which we are exposed daily,
especially when we enter places such as crowded public conveyances
and places of entertainment.
Resistance to Infection.
Fortunately most of us have considerable natural resistance,
which is built up by exposure to the repeated small doses of infection
to which we are subjected from day to day. But there are many
who have little or no natural resistance, and many who are exposed
to repeated massive doses of infection, and it is they who develop
the disease.
Treatment.
During recent years the treatment of tuberculosis by means of
new drugs has been most encouraging, but medical treatment is
very far from being a certain cure and for those who do not respond
to treatment by drugs the alternative surgical treatment has become
increasingly severe.
Prevention.
Tuberculosis is essentially an infectious disease and, as in the
case of other infectious diseases caused by bacilli (e.g., diphtheria,
typhoid fever, tetanus, etc.), the only hope of eradicating it lies in
prevention, by detecting the disease at the earliest possible moment,
isolating those who are infectious, and building up the resistance of
those exposed or susceptible to infection.