The Opposition…

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

John Green

Discussion: 2025-Apr-May-June

Why we're reading this: May 7, 2025
[close] May 7, 2025

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Apr 09, 2025 Andy rated it it was ok

For people who pay atention to John Green, but otherwise would not read about these topics, this is a good introduction to TB, global health, global inequality, etc.

Unfortunately, I found this disappointing. There are key parts of the story missing. For example, TB in rich countries peaked around 1800, that is to say long before Koch's discovery of the germ, and more than a century before antibiotics. (See:
https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/epdf/....)
At the end of the book, Green acknowledges that ...more

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Mar 27, 2025 Alex rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, sociology, political, public-health, medical, on-my-bookshelf

This is a good book. I'd say it's a good primer if you're not well versed in public health topics like health inequities, social determinants of health, and especially historical impacts on health. There was a lot of stuff I wasn't even aware of about TB, and first among them is the almost parasitic nature of TB.

When I was taking a class on tropical infectious diseases (or, really, parasites), the first thing we covered was the immune system. Why? Because parasites evolved with us. They're exper ...more

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