Tuberculosis and War

Description

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the largest cause of adult deaths from any single infectious disease, and ranks among the top 10 causes of death worldwide. When TB and war occur simultaneously, the inevitable consequences are disease, human misery, suffering, and heightened mortality. TB is, therefore, one of the most frequent and deadly diseases to complicate the special circumstances of warfare. Written by internationally acclaimed experts, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the status of TB before, during and after WWII in the 25 belligerent countries that were chiefly involved. It summarizes the history of TB up to the present day. A special chapter on “Nazi Medicine, Tuberculosis and Genocide” examines the horrendous, inhuman Nazi ideology, which during WWII used TB as a justification for murder, and targeted the disease by eradicating millions who were afflicted by it. The final chapter summarizes the lessons learned from WWII and more recent wars and recommends anti-TB measures for future conflicts. This publication is not only of interest to TB specialists and pulmonologists but also to those interested in public health, infectious diseases, war-related issues and the history of medicine. It should also appeal to nonmedical readers like journalists and politicians.

Informations

• Publié par: S. Karger AG
• Date de parution: 27 mars 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9783318060959
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Tuberculosis and War
Progress in Respiratory Research
Vol. 43
Series Editor
Felix J.F. Herth Heidelberg
 
Tuberculosis and War
Lessons Learned from World War II
Volume Editors
John F. Murray San Francisco, CA
Robert Loddenkemper Berlin
95 figures, 19 in color, 20 tables, 2018
Prof. Emeritus John F. Murray University of California San Francisco P.O. Box 0841 San Francisco, CA 94143-0841 (USA)
Prof. Dr. Robert Loddenkemper German Central Committee against Tuberculosis Hertastrasse 3 14169 Berlin (Germany)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Murray, John F. (John Frederic), 1927- editor. | Loddenkemper, Robert, editor.
Title: Tuberculosis and war : lessons learned from World War II / volume editors, John F. Murray, Robert Loddenkemper.
Other titles: Progress in respiratory research ; v. 43. 1422-2140
Description: Basel ; New York : Karger, 2018. | Series: Progress in respiratory research, ISSN 1422-2140 ; vol. 43 | Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017051894| ISBN 9783318060942 (hard cover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9783318060959 (e-ISBN)
Subjects: | MESH: Tuberculosis, Pulmonary--history | Tuberculosis, Pulmonary--epidemiology | World War II
Classification: LCC RA644.T7 | NLM WF 11.1 | DDC 614.5/4209044--dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017051894
 
Bibliographic Indices. This publication is listed in bibliographic services, including Current Contents .
Disclaimer. The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those f the individual authors and contributors and not of the publisher and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements in the book is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
Drug Dosage. The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any change in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The authors, the editors and the publisher have made every effort to obtain permission for all copyright-protected material. Any omissions are entirely unintentional. The publisher would be pleased to hear from anyone whose rights unwittingly have been infringed.
Copyright 2018 by S. Karger AG, P.O. Box, CH–4009 Basel (Switzerland)
www.karger.com
Printed on acid-free and non-aging paper (ISO 9706)
ISSN 1422–2140
e-ISSN 1662–3932
ISBN 978–3–318–06094–2
e-ISBN 978–3–318–06095–9
 
Contents
Preface
Background Information about Essential Material
 
Chapter 1 History of Tuberculosis and of Warfare
Murray, J.F. (San Francisco, CA)
Chapter 2 Challenges in the Assessment of Tuberculosis Epidemiology during Wartime
Rieder, H.L. (Zurich/Kirchlindach); Loddenkemper, R. (Berlin)
Chapter 3 Risk Factors for the Increase of Tuberculosis during Wartime
Loddenkemper, R. (Berlin); Rieder, H.L. (Kirchlindach/Zurich)
Chapter 4 Nazi Medicine, Tuberculosis and Genocide
Finley-Croswhite, A. (Norfolk, VA); Munzer, A. (Takoma Park, MD)
Reflections about Belligerent Countries in Order of Appearance
 
Chapter 5 Tuberculosis in Germany before, during and after World War II
Loddenkemper, R. (Berlin); Konietzko, N. (Essen)
Chapter 6 Tuberculosis in Austria before, during and after World War II
Wolf, K.; Junker, E. (Vienna)
Chapter 7 Tuberculosis in Poland before, during and after World War II
Magowska, A. (Poznan)
Chapter 8 Tuberculosis in the United Kingdom and Ireland before, during and after World War II
Davies, P.D.O.; Trafford, R. (Liverpool)
Chapter 9 Tuberculosis in France before, during and after World War II
Grosset, J. (Baltimore, MD); Tr bucq, A. (Paris)
Chapter 10 Tuberculosis in The British Empire before, during and after World War II
Murray, J.F. (San Francisco, CA)
Tuberculosis in Australia before, during and after World War II
Putland, C. (Adelaide, SA)
Tuberculosis in South Africa before, during and after World War II
Beyers, N.; Gie, R. (Cape Town)
Chapter 11 Tuberculosis in The Netherlands before, during and after World War II
van Cleeff, M.R.A. (Bussum); Hueting, E. (Naarden); Dessing, A. (Haarlem)
Chapter 12 Tuberculosis in Belgium before, during and after World War II
Wanlin, M. (Brussels)
Chapter 13 Tuberculosis in Southern European Countries and the Balkans before, during and after World War II
Sulis, G. (Brescia); D’Ambrosio, L. (Tradate/Lugano); Centis, R. (Tradate); Duarte, R. (Porto); Garcfa-Garcfa, J.-M. (Barcelona); Migliori, G.B. (Tradate)
Chapter 14 Tuberculosis in Hungary before, during and after World War II
Kov cs, G.; Gaudi, I.; Horv th, I. (Budapest)
Chapter 15 Tuberculosis in the Soviet Union before and during World War II
Shulgina, M.V. (Saint-Petersburg); Vasilyeva, I.A. (Moscow)
Chapter 16 Tuberculosis in the United States before, during and after World War II
Hopewell, P.C. (San Francisco, CA)
Chapter 17 Tuberculosis in Japan before, during and after World War II
Mori, T.; Ishikawa, N. (Tokyo)
Chapter 18 Tuberculosis in Korea during the Japanese Occupation in World War II
Choi, E.K. (Seoul)
Chapter 19 Tuberculosis in China before, during and after the Sino-Japanese War
Murray, J.F. (San Francisco, CA)
Conclusion
 
Chapter 20 Tuberculosis and War: Lessons Learned From World War II
Loddenkemper, R. (Berlin); Murray, J.F. (San Francisco, CA)
Author Index
Subject Index
Preface
Tuberculosis and War – Lessons Learned from World War II
For centuries, tuberculosis (TB) has remained the largest cause of adult deaths from any single infectious disease, and still ranks among the top 10 causes of death worldwide. When TB and war overlap, their partnership spreads disease, heightens misery, worsens suffering, and intensifies mortality. Accordingly, TB is one of the most frequent and deadly diseases to complicate the special circumstances of warfare.
In Tuberculosis and War – Lessons Learned from World War II, the impact of war on TB is investigated using the example of World War II (WWII), the worst man-made disaster in history with its 60 million military and civilian casualties. In his post-war summary in 1949, Daniels concludes that TB was the major health disaster of the war years, but notes that not all belligerent countries sustained the same pattern of TB mortality during the war years, 1939 to 1945. Three variations were observed: (1) countries in which there was virtually no wartime increase (e.g., Denmark and Norway); (2) countries in which TB mortality increased during the first few years of the war but then decreased (e.g., England and Wales, Belgium, and France); and (3) countries/cities in which death rates increased from the beginning to after the end of the war (e.g., especially in capital cities like Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna, Rome, and Amsterdam). Furthermore, it became unquestioned that the increase of TB during WWII was closely related to the severity of war conditions.
Written by internationally acclaimed experts, this book provides for the first time a comprehensive analysis of the status of TB before, during, and after WWII in the 25 belligerent countries that were chiefly involved ( chapters 5 – 19 ). In the first of the 4 introductory chapters, chapter 1 summarizes the 70,000-year-old history of TB up to the present. In even earlier times, our hunter-gatherer kindred survived for 2–3 million years of peaceful life before wars began during the Neolithic Revolution. The downside to the amenities of civilization – wars with their human butchery and property destruction – were already taking place before written languages were available to document their existence. The escalation of weapons and means of killing people in the race to annihilation seems to have currently reached a threshold of success with the availability of abundant hydrogen bombs and the steady creation of more and more of them.
Further important background information is conveyed about the history of TB and war in general, including the difficulties of collecting exact epidemiological data ( chapter 2 ), and the risk factors that hasten the spread of TB and its mortality during wartime ( chapter 3 ). A special feature ( chapter 4 ) on “Nazi medicine, TB and genocide” examines the horrendous, inhuman Nazi ideology, which during WWII used TB as a justification for murder, and targeted the disease by eradicating millions who had it.
The main risk factors for TB in wartime include malnutrition/starvation, which weaken host i