“On Ending TB” by xander_balwit

This is a link post. Tuberculosis still kills over 1.2 million people a year. In a two-part essay by Kamal Nahas for Asimov Press, we explore why and how to change that. In the 1924 novel, The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann describes a sanatorium patient named Anton Ferge as he undergoes a painful tuberculosis (TB) treatment. “I lie there with my face covered, so I can’t see anything,” Anton says. “I feel myself being pinched and squeezed, that is the flesh they are laying back and pegging down.” Ferge's harrowing treatment is a lung-flattening artificial pneumothorax, an outmoded practice involving the injection of nitrogen gas into the chest cavity to compress a TB-ridden lung. The goal of the procedure is to crush cavities hollowed out by the bacteria. And although Mann includes some literary flourishes, he accurately captures the crudeness of the procedure: “Then he begins, with a [...] ---Outline:(03:16) Making a Vaccine with Ox Bile and Potato Essence(11:12) Antibiotics From the Ground Up(18:35) A Rival Vaccine(23:08) OK, Computer. Find Antibiotics(30:45) Can We Lay This Scourge to Rest?The original text contained 11 images which were described by AI. --- First published: November 3rd, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/4q4xLFs7Ha8GSYmWv/on-ending-tb --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.