TB: A Killer Then, A Killer Now

By Sarah Eilers

Peter Borik: The Story of the Tragedy He Brought His Family, 1944

In the mid-20th century, U.S. public health authorities used a variety of means to inform, cajole, and even frighten the population into testing and treatment for tuberculosis (TB), a bacterial infection that attacks the lungs. A century ago, TB was the leading cause of death in the United States. This 1944 film tells the story of farmer and family man Peter Borik, sick with TB but loath to go to a sanatorium. Borik, the film tells us, is “a willful man who refused to believe the truth. Because he stubbornly and perversely rejected the truth, he brought tragedy to those closest to him.”

Today, March 24, is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as World TB Day. This annual event commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes the disease. Tuberculosis is now rare in the United States and other developed nations with ample access to antibiotics, but in poorer regions, it trails only HIV/AIDS as the greatest cause of death due to a single infectious agent.  For WHO, reducing the incidence of TB infection remains a significant global priority.

In the film, Mr. Borik refuses to acknowledge his illness or allow himself to be quarantined or treated. He remains in bed at home, interacting with his family, eating from the same dishes they use, and sharing common spaces when able to leave his bed.  Because Mr. Borik takes no precautions against the spread of infection, tragedy befalls his family. Both his daughters contract TB.  One dies at home, while the other collapses at work and finally agrees to go to a sanatorium. She is cured, but the damage done to the family is permanent.

To watch more films like Peter Borik: The Story of the Tragedy He Brought His Family from the National Library of Medicine’s Historical Audiovisuals collection, visit NLM’s Digital Collections.

Sarah Eilers is Contract Archivist for the Historical Audiovisual Program in the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from National Library of Medicine, Circulating Now. Published on the National Library of Medicine's Circulating Now blog and, as a work of the United States government, in the public domain; pictures credited elsewhere are left out.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.