La Bohème - San Francisco Opera

Some people actually thought that TB was an inherited trait that showed up in people of
creative talent, and that the sicker you were, the more talented you were. Or, in the
reverse, that the more creative you were the sicker you would get, and that the fevers and
fatigue of the illness helped people make better art. It was, in a word, glamorized and
made almost fashionable. The spectre of TB is a constant presence in 19th century art. It
shows up in operas other than La bohème, including Verdi's La Traviata, and in plays,
poetry, novels and paintings. In reality it was a wasting disease with no known cure, and
that the suffering was anything but glamorous. Sufferers were often isolated and prevented
from working in certain types of jobs, or even from getting married. The symptoms of TB
include immense tiredness, weight loss, fever, night sweats, chest pain, and persistent
coughing that brings up blood. At the time, it almost always proved fatal.
Treatment of the time was done by guess-work. Some physicians recommended
rest and relaxation, some recommended fresh air and exercise, or even salt air for their
patients. Infected people were often isolated in "sanatoriums." These were facilities that
were set apart from crowded areas, like cities, and promoted exercise, fresh air, and rest
for their patients. In 1882, Dr. Robert Koch, a German physician, was finally able to isolate
the bacterium. For the first time, the cause of consumption was understood as a
contagious disease that was spread through air contaminated by the coughing of an
infected person. The first steps towards effective treatment and vaccination could now be
taken.
However, it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that major progress was made
towards a cure, which was developed in the 1940's. Of course, the best treatment is
prevention. Currently, doctors are trying to encourage prevention prior to development of
active TB. Preventative medicine includes good nutrition, rest, exercise, periodic testing,
and avoiding close and continued contact with a person who is sick with TB. Coming into
contact with a person who has TB does not necessarily mean that you will also get sick.
Our bodies fight off germs every day. Only a quarter of the people who are exposed to TB
actually become infected, and only a small portion of those people actually get sick.
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