The TB epidemic teaches us that the battle against Covid-19 won't be won in hospitals alone | Salmaan Keshavjee, Aaron Shakow and Tom Nicholson

A community approach of ‘search, treat and prevent’ was crucial to stopping the spread of tuberculosis in the developed worldThere were three great pandemics in the 20th century. The influenza pandemic of 1918 and the HIV pandemic during the 1980s and 1990s get the most attention. But the third, tuberculosis, was the deadliest by far and in many communities, it ’s not yet over.TB has much to teach us about the tools that can help to eradicate the current pandemic, and what happens when those tools aren ’t even tried. The disease killed more thanone billion people between 1800 and 2000. Although it is caused by a bacterium rather than a virus, the disease shares some frightening similarities with this current coronavirus.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases World news Tuberculosis Health Medical research Microbiology Science Society Drugs Antibiotics US news Source Type: news