Tuberculosis is a disease that attacks the lungs, but can attack almost any part of the body. Tuberculosis is spread from person to person through the air. When people with tuberculosis in their lungs or throat cough, laugh, sneeze, sing, or even talk, the germs that cause tuberculosis can be spread into the air. If another person breathes in these germs there is a chance that they will become infected with tuberculosis. There are differences between being infected by the disease and having the disease. Someone who is infected with tuberculosis has the tuberculosis germs, or bacteria, in their body. The body's defenses are protecting them from the germs and they are not sick. Someone with the tuberculosis disease is sick and can spread the disease to other people and needs to see a doctor as soon as possible.
A man by the name of Robert Koch was a scientist in the study of medicine. Jacob Henle influenced him because Henle believed that living parasite type organisms caused diseases. During his time, Koch studied tuberculoses. He wanted to cure the disease by adding tubercle bacilli so that the body will become immune to it. He made many tests on how much should be added and it finally worked. He discovered that you must add the bacteria in for the immune system to recognize the disease and to fight it off. However many patients thought that the cure was disappointing because the time it took to heal was not considerable. But his colleagues at the Institute for Infectious Diseases are working on a better cure.
