A History Of Tuberculosis In Alabama

| April 9, 2015 

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Homewood residents were startled late last month when Homewood City Schools announced that a freshmen at Homewood High School was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). For most people, the respiratory disease tuberculosis is an anachronism, but it still kills more than a million people each year, mostly in developing countries.

“Not surprisingly, TB has a long history in Alabama as well,” says Nick Patterson, editor of the weekly newspaper WELD.  Patterson recently wrote about TB’s history in Alabama. He says, in the 50’s, TB was a leading cause of death in Jefferson County.

The Birmingham Historical Society marked the place, now in the English Village, where tuberculosis was first fought in North Alabama.
The Birmingham Historical Society marked the place, now in the English Village, where tuberculosis was first fought in North Alabama. Photo by Nick Patterson, WELD.

“In 1964, lights in the shape of a Christmas tree decorated the side of the Vulcan tower and would glow red whenever there was a new TB diagnosis — like the statue’s torch did at the time for traffic fatalities,” says Patterson.

Patterson joins WBHM’s Rachel Osier Lindley to talk about TB’s legacy, and his interview with Dr. Edward Khan, medical director for disease control at the Jefferson County Department of Health, on the Homewood TB case.

 

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