Tuesday, March 25, 2008

world tb (tuberculosis) day

march 24, 2008 is world tb day.

this date, "commemorates the day in 1882 when dr robert koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. at the time of koch's announcement in berlin, TB was raging through europe and the americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. koch's discovery opened the way toward diagnosing and curing tuberculosis"

get more information at the world tb day 2008 home page - "i am stopping tb"

in spite of the impression many people have, and i was one, that tb was a disease isolated to developing countries in the third world, it can be found very close to home. here are some recent news stories:

tuberculosis in westchester.
tuberculosis in nyc.
drug resistant tb concerns in harlem and the bronx.
a tb infected patient faces felony charges in arizona.

and, in south africia, patients with drug-resistant tb are locked-up.

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why is this information about tuberculosis on my blog, you might wonder?? because fighting lung disease and promoting lung health is something i care deeply about.

4 comments:

Tomas said...

also, running a marathon (or longer without healthy lungs is nearly impossible (although the human spirit can overcome incredible things).
So all runners should care about tb.

A Plain Observer said...

and do you know who invented the vaccine against malaria? and where he is from?

CTmarathoner said...

don't forget to update readers on the
World Lung Foundation NYC 1/2 marathon charity package! when you get the info!

rundangerously said...

thanks tomas!

thanks myriam!

thanks emmy!