ABSTRACT
Tuberculosis treatments fell into two broad categories: medications/surgical procedures and fresh air/diet regimens. Although tuberculosis could be found in any organ, physicians focused on pulmonary tuberculosis—the most common variety. Tuberculosis contributed to a decline in the standard of living: on average an adult with tuberculosis lost three to four months of work per year, which led to a twenty to thirty percent decrease in annual household income. Tuberculosis affected all classes, but it was particularly debilitating for the working class, because workers needed to continue to work while being treated. Environmental factors were thought to cause tuberculosis in men, but tuberculosis in women was thought to relate to menstruation. In 1911, Lawrence Flick summarized the understanding of tuberculosis treatment that was common before the discovery of streptomycin. Tuberculosis clinics in both Buenos Aires and Philadelphia sought to diagnose and treat tubercular patients who lived at home.
