Every year in America there are more than 100,000 new cases of tuberculosis.
Of all infectious diseases, tuberculosis is still the greatest killer.
This film on tuberculosis presents aspects of its
diagnosis, treatment and control.
Music In spite of the progress of preventive medicine, in spite of public health
programs on community, state and national level, tuberculosis still attacks
almost as many Americans today as 10 years ago.
Although the number of deaths from tuberculosis has been gradually falling
off. Why?
For one thing, industrialization has spread faster
than industrial health programs.
In some occupations there remains the hazard of infection.
Poverty and ignorance, whether in back country or in city slums,
contribute to the spread of tuberculosis.
Ignorance or negligence, as in this case or in this case.
And then there are wars, the greatest spreaders of tuberculosis.
The work of scientists alone cannot eliminate the deadly
bacteria that cause tuberculosis.
It takes community action.
In the city where Mary Smith attends high school, tuberculin
tests are given to all pupils.
Two days later, the results are checked.
The tuberculin test shows that this apparently healthy boy is infected.
Mary's arm shows no reaction, however.
Her test indicates that she has not been infected with tuberculosis.
Soon afterwards, Mary's aunt comes to live with her. She seems
run down and needs a rest.
Actually, she has a well-advanced case of tuberculosis.
Through sneezing, coughing and direct touch, Mary may have been infected.
Often, bacilli of tuberculosis are breathed in by their victim.
They pass through nose and mouth into the trachea and on through the smaller
passages, deeper and deeper into the lung.
At their ends, in the deepest recesses of the lungs, the bronchi eye branch out
into very small bronchioles, which contain air sacs whose walls are
principally tiny blood vessels.
The tuberculin bacilli at once attract disease-fighting cells, which begin to
surround and envelop the germs.
Many of the cells, however, are killed by the bacilli.
Then larger body defense cells come to the rescue by swallowing up smaller cells
and the bacilli they contain.
Within a few hours, some air sacs have been filled with masses
of these cells, which hold in most of the bacilli
and prevent their further spread.
At the end of a few weeks, the bacilli, although they may have multiplied for a
time, are walled off temporarily.
Or, as rather commonly happens, they may have been carried through lymph vessels
to bronchial lymph nodes.
There, they may have been similarly walled off.
This may have been the case of Mary Smith, who by now has finished high school.
She has a job and is working, working hard, playing hard, making
every effort to keep slender.
She's having too little to eat. She's getting too little
rest and too much excitement.
Her vitality and body resistance have become lowered, and tuberculosis
reinfection has commenced.
Reinfection may come from outside, from tubercle bacilli
carried from the air into the lungs.
Or it may come from spreading of a primary infection.
Either by the breakdown of the primary pulmonary focus or of the lymph node
focus, either directly into the lung or in a roundabout way through the
bloodstream, or finally into the bronchial tubes, with discharge of germs into
other parts of the lung and formation of a new diseased area.
Although at any time healing may again take place,
the diseased part may grow and spread, forming a larger and larger cavity.
The first of this series of x-rays shows a small, dark appearing cavity.
In the second, the dark shaped area has grown noticeably larger.
And here it has reached the advanced stage of chronic
ulcerative pulmonary tuberculosis.
For several months, Mary has tired easily, and she's been losing weight steadily,
and she coughs very often.
All this begins to worry her, and she finally decides to
make an appointment with her physician.
Mary's doctor soon detects signs that indicate tuberculosis.
He suggests that she go to a tuberculosis clinic for further examination.
She takes a sample of sputum to the clinic.
Then she is given another tuberculin test.
Among other checkups, an x-ray picture of her lungs is made.
X-rays are one of our best means of getting evidence when infection is present.
The report of the clinic goes back to Mary's physician.
He explains to Mary the findings of the clinic.
Then he points out that x-rays show tuberculosis in her upper right lung.
The doctor tries not to alarm Mary.
However, he makes it clear that she will have to submit to a long treatment, a
treatment that will take her away from home to a tuberculosis hospital where she
will get proper medicine, proper food, rest, and possible surgery.
Under the care of nurses and doctors, Mary is undergoing the standard treatment.
She is being trained in sanitary procedures, like using coverings when
she coughs and disposing of them into a receptacle which will be burned.
Fortunately, Mary is able to take an adequate amount of nourishment.
Milk, citrus fruit juices, meat, potatoes, and vegetables.
Proper food not only gives her the necessary body fuel, but materials which
will heal the injured parts.
Repair is a slow process, but proper medicine, good food, and rest will work
wonders, even in the advanced stage of tuberculosis, as in the case of the ant.
A number of different surgical procedures can be used, either to help the lung
rest or to remove the damaged portion of the lung.
New drugs are constantly being developed to aid in the recovery of the patient.
But even after the rest and building up of strength in the hospital, Mary passes
through a long stage of convalescence at home.
In an organized effort to help patients like Mary, public and private hospitals
have been built all over the country.
Mobile units like this one for schools, for communities, or for large factories.
Regular checkups by a physician help discover infection before it spreads.
We have mobilized against tuberculosis, all the resources of modern science.
We are constantly building better and more efficient tools.
But only by checking an ever increasing number of citizens.
By going after tuberculosis before the disease spreads,
can tuberculosis be conquered?
Only if we fight it on a nationwide front can we achieve a lasting
control over tuberculosis.