Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Alan Dronsfield gives a talk entitled “Conquering the Captain of Death – the history of the drug treatment of tuberculosis”. This talk was given on 15 July 2025.
Tuberculosis, predominantly a disease of the lungs, was a much-feared scourge. It chose its victims largely from those in early adulthood and the statistics speak for themselves. Between 1851 and 1910 it killed about four million in England and Wales. Half of those who died in this period aged between 20 and 24 succumbed to tuberculosis. In Europe in the 19th century it may have killed a quarter of the adult population. Various drug remedies were thought to have promise, but the undulating nature of the disease always led to false hopes and ultimate despair. Incarceration in dedicated hospitals was a popular treatment in the first half of the 20th century. In some cases better nutrition enabled the body’s defences to overcome the disease, but for most patients the outlook was bleak.
During the 20th century a few drug treatments were shown to treat some diseases effectively: The small armoury included Ehrlich’s salvarsan against syphilis, the sulphonamides and the penicillins. But none cured tuberculosis and it remained a killer. However, the principles that led to the discovery of these agents were found to be applicable to the tuberculosis problem and two classes of drug were found to be effective from about 1950. One used a chemical that Nature supplied, once extracted and purified. The other class can be traced back to the methodology that was developed by Ehrlich and relied on a search for synthetic chemicals of non-natural origin. This will be their story. As a consequence, tuberculosis has almost been beaten. In 2023 just 350 UK deaths from TB were recorded.
Alan Dronsfield gives a talk entitled “Conquering the Captain of Death – the history of the drug treatment of tuberculosis”. This talk was given on 15 July 2025.
Tuberculosis, predominantly a disease of the lungs, was a much-feared scourge. It chose its victims largely from those in early adulthood and the statistics speak for themselves. Between 1851 and 1910 it killed about four million in England and Wales. Half of those who died in this period aged between 20 and 24 succumbed to tuberculosis. In Europe in the 19th century it may have killed a quarter of the adult population. Various drug remedies were thought to have promise, but the undulating nature of the disease always led to false hopes and ultimate despair. Incarceration in dedicated hospitals was a popular treatment in the first half of the 20th century. In some cases better nutrition enabled the body’s defences to overcome the disease, but for most patients the outlook was bleak.
During the 20th century a few drug treatments were shown to treat some diseases effectively: The small armoury included Ehrlich’s salvarsan against syphilis, the sulphonamides and the penicillins. But none cured tuberculosis and it remained a killer. However, the principles that led to the discovery of these agents were found to be applicable to the tuberculosis problem and two classes of drug were found to be effective from about 1950. One used a chemical that Nature supplied, once extracted and purified. The other class can be traced back to the methodology that was developed by Ehrlich and relied on a search for synthetic chemicals of non-natural origin. This will be their story. As a consequence, tuberculosis has almost been beaten. In 2023 just 350 UK deaths from TB were recorded.
