Of Animalcula, Phthisis and Scrofula Historical insights into tuberculosis in the pre-Koch era

Tuberculosis (TB) has occupied pride of place throughout the history of disease as a scourge with an unparalleled impact on humankind in terms of morbidity, mortality and economic cost. Until Robert Koch’s revolutionary elucidation of its aetiology in 1882,1 this disease inspired awe, social stigma, a variety of wide-ranging but largely ineffective remedies, and even stimulated artistic fervour in prose, poetry and paintings.