Speaking as an immunologist, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium causing tuberculosis, is an incredibly interesting bug. I’ve come across it in courses on infectious diseases and immunology and even oncology (we use an attenuated strain to treat bladder cancer!). Despite many hours of learning about it and seeing some patients with tuberculosis, the full extent of the impact of this organism eluded me - up to now.
John Green, best known for Young Adult books such as “The Fault In Our Stars”, published a book on tuberculosis earlier this year, which I listened to the audiobook version a few weeks ago.
I confess, I wouldn’t have started on it if I didn’t have a few long trainrides ahead of me and if it were not the first audiobook Spotify recommended me. Despite some scepticism (I thought I had quite a good background on tuberculosis), this book offered me more than I could have hoped. A vivid story where the present intertwines with the past, in which the author dissects what makes a disease one of the major causes of death over all of human history.
