The Antibody Initiative -- Tuberculosis Testing
Tuberculosis Testing
.jpg)
To skip the text and go directly to the objects, CLICK HERE
Slide, “Tubercle Bacillus in Sputum.” Showing the disease-causing bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Made for educational and research purposes by the New York City Public Health Department, late 19th–early 20th century.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease that dates back at least to ancient Egypt and likely has been with humanity much longer. The bacterial infection can attack many parts of the body, including the kidneys, brain, and spine. It most commonly presents itself, however, as an infection of the lungs. When active, its symptoms include coughing, chest pain, weight loss, night sweats, and fever. If untreated, it can be fatal.
Although no effective cure for tuberculosis existed until the discovery of streptomycin in the 1940s, people have long endeavored to prevent, treat, and test for TB.
The hallmark symptom of pulmonary tuberculosis is the production of thick and sometimes bloody discharge from the lungs. For both discreteness and sanitary purposes, TB patients in the late-19th and early-20th centuries sometimes used sputum cups or flasks to collect their mucus. Glass or metal flasks were rinsed and reused, while disposable paper cups could be burned after use.
Fresh air was long considered a beneficial treatment for TB. Starting in the mid-19th century, sanatoria in countryside locales became popular sites for patients to retreat and rest.
Left: A man rests on a roof in New York City at the Bellevue Tuberculosis Clinic, 1909. Right: Vase, Arequipa Pottery, circa 1913–1916. Arequipa Pottery was established as a Progressive Era experiment in occupational therapy for tuberculosis patients at Dr. Philip King Brown's private Arequipa Sanatorium near Fairfax, California. King argued that requiring his patients to work in the pottery provided them with moral and physical benefits, and allowed people of limited financial means to pay for the healthcare provided by his facility.
With the success of serum treatment for diphtheria and tetanus in the late 19th century, researchers developed anti-tubercle serum. Unfortunately, the anti-tubercle treatment proved ineffective. Earlier, in 1890, German bacteriologist Robert Koch had introduced tuberculin, which also failed as a TB cure. Koch’s injectable tuberculosis derivative found another important purpose, however, as the basis for diagnosing the disease. By 1907, use of the test led to the discovery that patients could be infected with TB without exhibiting symptoms, a condition known as latent TB.
In 1921, French researchers Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin conducted the first trial of their TB vaccine. It came to be known as the BCG vaccine (Bacillus Camille-Guérin), a reference to their work to grow a weakened strain of the tuberculosis bacillus appropriate for use in a vaccine. Although the vaccine does not prevent infection, it does provide protection against the spread of the disease beyond the lungs and into the brain. Vaccination with BCG is not common in the United States, where TB levels are relatively low, but remains important in other countries.
It took researchers nearly twenty years after the first use of the BCG vaccine to develop effective tuberculosis cures. Several of these drugs are still in use today. Streptomycin, the first widely successful antibiotic against tuberculosis, was isolated from a soil sample at Rutgers University in 1943 by Albert Schatz in the laboratory of Selman Waksman.


-
Fight TB - D.C. Lung Association and NTA (National Tuberculosis Association)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1935 - 1968
- maker
- National Tuberculosis Association
- ID Number
- 2012.0165.609
- accession number
- 2012.0165
- catalog number
- 2012.0165.609
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tuberculin, Purified Protein Derivative - Second Strength
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1961
- expiration date
- 1961-04-01
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0043.047A
- accession number
- 1982.0043
- catalog number
- 1982.0043.047A
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Anti-Tuberculosis Brick Made by Patients of the Southeast Kansas Tuberculosis Hospital - Imprinted "Don't Spit on Sidewalk"
- Description
- Inscriptions on the commemorative display read:
- "This brick was laid in a Kansas sidewalk in the early day campaign against tuberculosis and other communicable diseases. Dr. S.J. Crumbine's slogan, "Don't Spit on the Sidewalk', spearheaded the early voluntary Christmas Seal fight to keep Kansans healthy and free from tuberculosis and should be a constant reminder to all citizens that tuberculosis is a contagious disease.
- This brick was presented by your Tuberculosis and Health Association in 1958, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Kansas Tuberculosis and Health Association.
- Made by patients of the Southeast Kansas Tuberculosis Hospital, Chanute, Kansas"
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1958
- maker
- Southeast Kansas Tuberculosis Hospital
- American Lung Association
- ID Number
- MG.M-11152
- catalog number
- M-11152
- accession number
- 259205
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tuberculin, P.P.D. (Purified Protein Derivate) - for Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1939
- expiration date
- 1942-09-25
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- MG.M-04848
- catalog number
- M-04848
- accession number
- 154611
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tuberculin, Purified Protein Derivative - Second Test Strength - for Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1973
- expiration date
- 1973-04-01
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0043.017A
- accession number
- 1982.0043
- catalog number
- 1982.0043.017A
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Anti-Tuberculosis Brick Made by Patients of the Southeast Kansas Tuberculosis Hospital - Imprinted "Don't Spit on Sidewalk"
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Burnitol Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- MG.M-11458.01
- catalog number
- M-11458.01
- accession number
- 260557
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sputum Flask, Blue Glass with Dual Caps
- Description
- In the 1800s and early 1900s, pulmonary tuberculosis was a major health concern. Those suspected of suffering from the disease might be ostracized, ridiculed, and denied certain civil rights. One of the signs of tuberculosis was the production of large amounts of viscous, sometimes bloody, matter from the lungs. As a result, sufferers used objects like this glass pocket flask to dispose of the coughed up mass, without drawing attention to themselves by spitting.
- date made
- early 1900s
- ID Number
- 1990.0526.01
- catalog number
- 1990.0526.01
- accession number
- 1990.0526
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tuberculin, Purified Protein Derivative - Intermediate Test Strength - for Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1973
- expiration date
- 1973-05-01
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0043.048A
- catalog number
- 1982.0043.048A
- accession number
- 1982.0043
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tuberculin, Purified Protein Derivative - Intermediate Test Strength - for Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1973
- expiration date
- 1973-05-01
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0043.048B
- catalog number
- 1982.0043.048B
- accession number
- 1982.0043
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tuberculin, P.P.D. (Purified Protein Derivative) - For Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1938
- expiration date
- 1942-09-09
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- MG.M-04677
- catalog number
- M-04677
- accession number
- 147292
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Anti-Tubercular Dispensary Sign
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1905-1935
- ID Number
- 2012.0165.561
- accession number
- 2012.0165
- catalog number
- 2012.0165.561
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sputum Cup with Spring-lid
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2002.0137.027
- accession number
- 2002.0137
- catalog number
- 2002.0137.027
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
TB-Check-1 - Specific Immunoassay Chromatographic Test for Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1999
- maker
- Bio-Medical Products Corporation
- ID Number
- 1999.0171.3
- catalog number
- 1999.0171.3
- accession number
- 1999.0171
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Aplisol - Tuberculin, Purified Protein Derivative, Diluted - for Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1975
- expiration date
- 1975-04-30
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0043.007B
- accession number
- 1982.0043
- catalog number
- 1982.0043.007B
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Buy Christmas Seals - Protect Your Home From Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1939
- artist
- Kent, Rockwell
- maker
- National Tuberculosis Association
- ID Number
- 1993.0499.01
- catalog number
- 1993.0499.01
- accession number
- 1993.0499
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Aplisol - Tuberculin, Purified Protein Derivative, Diluted - for Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1975
- expiration date
- 1975-04-30
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0043.007C
- accession number
- 1982.0043
- catalog number
- 1982.0043.007C
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Aplisol - Tuberculin, Purified Protein Derivative, Diluted - for Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1975
- expiration date
- 1975-04-30
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0043.007D
- accession number
- 1982.0043
- catalog number
- 1982.0043.007D
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sputum Flask with Spring-loaded, Hinged Port
- date made
- 1890s - early 1900s
- ID Number
- MG.M-11458.02
- catalog number
- M-11458.02
- accession number
- 260557
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tuberculin, Purified Protein Derivative - Second Test Strength - for Intradermal Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1973
- expiration date
- 1973-04-01
- maker
- Parke, Davis and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0043.017B
- accession number
- 1982.0043
- catalog number
- 1982.0043.017B
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tuberculin Purified Protein Derivative Tine Test PPD - Lederle
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1982
- product expiration date
- 1982-08
- maker
- Lederle Laboratories, Division of American Cyanamid Company
- ID Number
- 2012.0165.746
- catalog number
- 2012.0165.746
- accession number
- 2012.0165
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History