We Have the Cure. Why is Tuberculosis Still Around?
Tuberculosis – the world’s deadliest infectious disease – could be dormant in your system for years before you realize you have it. In the U.S., it’s relatively rare; provisional data shows that there were just over 10,000 cases in 2024. But in other parts of the world, especially lower-income countries, the disease is spreading much more actively. Worldwide, more than 10 million people are diagnosed with an active tuberculosis infection every year. And even though modern medicine has all the tools to cure it, over a million people around the world still die from the sickness annually.
Author John Green thinks that’s a problem. In his book Everything is Tuberculosis, he charts the spread of tuberculosis in the past to the lessons it has to teach us in the present.
Interested in more science and medical history? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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Author John Green thinks that’s a problem. In his book Everything is Tuberculosis, he charts the spread of tuberculosis in the past to the lessons it has to teach us in the present.
Interested in more science and medical history? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
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Tuberculosis – the world’s deadliest infectious disease – could be dormant in your system for years before you realize you have it. In the U.S., it’s relatively rare; provisional data shows that there were just over 10,000 cases in 2024. But in other parts of the world, especially lower-income countries, the disease is spreading much more actively. Worldwide, more than 10 million people are diagnosed with an active tuberculosis infection every year. And even though modern medicine has all the tools to cure it, over a million people around the world still die from the sickness annually.
Author John Green thinks that’s a problem. In his book Everything is Tuberculosis, he charts the spread of tuberculosis in the past to the lessons it has to teach us in the present.
Interested in more science and medical history? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Author John Green thinks that’s a problem. In his book Everything is Tuberculosis, he charts the spread of tuberculosis in the past to the lessons it has to teach us in the present.
Interested in more science and medical history? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
2025-10-21
15 min
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