This 5 page paper argues that studying the history of tuberculosis reveals that it is a disease that discriminates among social classes, affecting the poor much more than the upper class. The writer also discusses the response of society to the disease, and compares it to today's reponses to such diseases as AIDS. There are 4 sources listed in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_GSPlague.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
disease, the unfortunate reality was that the poor were many times more likely to actually die from the disease. Today, as this disease begins to re-emerge, we see a
similar scenario. Todays TB tends to afflict segments of the population which are vulnerable and unable to defend themselves against this disease - primarily the AIDS population. In
this way, we see how TB both in the past and currently, has had the tendency to affect those within the population who tend to be regarded poorly for their
social standing. Glamorization and Condemnation of Plagues - TB Then Versus Now Tuberculosis was rampant in Victorian England, and there
was great disparity in terms of how the disease was viewed by the different classes (Oritz, 2002). "People of the upper and middle classes could afford treatment while the
poor were often subjected to unsanitary, disease-ridden living conditions" (Oritz, 2002). While there were few people who escaped exposure to this serious disease, the rich had a far
better chance of escaping infection or being cured (Oritz, 2002). Oddly enough, the Industrial Revolution was largely responsible for the paradox of this disease: On one hand,
the conditions of the poor were supposed to be upgraded by industrial innovations; but, on the other hand, company waste and inadequate working conditions, exploitation, took a severe toll on
the very people this revolution was supposed to help. The mass presence of disease was due to the degradation of society. Poor conditions of various institutions, a side effect of
the revolution, presented a dangerous risk of exposure for lower, working class families (Oritz, 2002). The lower class suffered the most