Tuberculosis

A beautiful death, they say. The patient becomes fairer and more ethereal as the days go by.

Tuberculosis was known as consumption in the 19th century.

Transmission & Vectors

It is airborne.

Causes

The exact cause is unknown as of present.
Though popular belief is that it simply appeared out of nowhere to victimize unfortunates, the symptoms and its infectiousness imply that it has a similar cause to other respiratory illnesses.

Symptoms

The patient has a persistent cough, which eventually results in them coughing up blood.
In the meantime, they grow pale, weak, and thin, losing their stamina as well.

Treatment

The current popular attempt to treat consumption is to take the patient on vacation to the sea.
Preliminary research by the Misericorde Order suggests that isolation in a quiet room with strength-giving food and cough relief is far more effective than simply taking a holiday by the sea.

Prognosis

Most cases of consumption resulted in the patient's death as previous treatments were ineffective at fully killing the cause of the illness.
It was very rare for consumption patients to recover without assistance. Among those who survived in the 1840s, Purpure's younger stepsister was one of them.

Sequela

The patient would still have weak lungs even after recovery.

Affected Groups

Despite the romantic imagination of consumption patients being young women, both men and women of any age were at risk of catching it.
It was especially fatal in very young children and old folks.

Hosts & Carriers

Only people carry this disease.

Prevention

Once the Misericordes began their preliminary research on illnesses and especially consumption, they tried to get at-risk people into quarantine.
This was occasionally met with hostility due to workers and bosses being obliged to go back to work soon after.

Cultural Reception

In England and the rest of Europe, the proliferation of consumption and its resulting deaths led romantics to depict consumption patients in art as pallid fragile beauties.
This was due to the cultural ideal of women being demure and frail. The fact that they would die tragic deaths fired the imagination too.

Type

Bacterial

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Common

Affected Species

• Human