TB 'may have killed off leprosy'

[Anarcho-Socialist]

TB 'may have killed off leprosy'

Human remains dating from the 1st Century AD suggest tuberculosis (TB) may have killed off leprosy in Europe.
Scientists at University College London have been examining a shrouded body recently discovered in a sealed chamber in Israel.

The bones reveal the man was infected with both TB and leprosy.

Given that TB is the more aggressive and faster-killing of the two, the scientists say it would have won the battle of the diseases.

In the Middle Ages, leprosy was widespread.

Around this time, TB began to spread across Europe and overtook leprosy, which has become a relatively rare disease now in comparison to TB.

There is a theory that having one of these diseases protects a person against contracting the other one, which is called cross immunity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4244467.stm

[hadrons]

1. tuberculosis or leprosy ... what a choice ...

like choosing between W. and Jeb

[Anakin Skywalker]

6. Damn! You Beat Me to it

I was gonna say something similar.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. aww, poor leprosy

:(

[GregW]

3. Reminds me of what the leper said to the prostitute ...

"Keep the tip"

[dbt]

4. Boy, there's a flag on THAT play!

:evilgrin:
dbt

[Sequoia]

9. That's so sick! But I laughed anyway.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Yay for TB!

:crazy:

[SoCalDem]

7. OR maybe TB killed the PEOPLE with leprosy

faster than they could spread leprosy.. Leprosy is not as "quickly" contagious and sometimes takes YEARS to infect family members.. Some family members never GET leprosy..

When I was a child, my girlscout troop visited a leper colony at Christmas time to give presents to the kids.. The WHOLE family was sent there even if only one family member had leprosy.. Most were doomed to end up with it themselves:(.

(This was in Panama in the late 50's )

[Sequoia]

8. Video Killed the Radio Star

Kinda like that?

[JerseygirlCT]

10. Wow. That's really fascinating

Lots of food for thought there.

[DrWeird]

11. Did you know a guy in Alexander the Great's army...

was the origin of sickle cell anemia?