John Green, author of Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, and many other YA books, has written a non-fiction book. EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS explores the history of the world's most infectious disease.
Green became fascinated by tuberculosis while on a trip to Sierra Leone. He visited a hospital there and met a patient named Henry. He learned of Henry's life-long fight with the disease; and then began to do his own research into the history, treatment, and the continuing battle with the disease.
Readers will learn that in earlier times TB was referred to as consumption. When many of its victims were artists, authors, and poets, it was romanticized and thought to contribute to the creativity of these individuals. As time passed, contracting TB was thought to be because of poor lifestyle, poverty, and abuse of alcohol or gluttony.
Green details the advancement of detection and treatment. He describes that availability of medicines, compliance with treatment, and drug resistance all contribute to the loss of life in third world countries. He explains his own health issues and his feelings about relying on medication which helped him to understand how some TB patients suffer.
As I read this book, I was constantly thinking about the recent cuts made in the United States support for health in poor countries. It is a great concern that this highly contagious disease could once again surge due to lack of treatment.
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