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Why is TB called the ‘disease of paper’ in Eastern Cape villages? - Bhekisisa

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In 2019, while doing tuberculosis (TB) research in a rural part of the Eastern Cape, I heard an entirely new word to describe the illness. Isifo sephepha. Translated from isiXhosa it means the “disease of paper”. Despite our knowing that TB spreads through the air and has symptoms like coughing, night sweats and weight loss (or that over half the people with TB in South Africa have no symptoms at all), we can’t seem to stop it from spreading. It’s South Africa’s biggest killer and the words people use to describe the disease offer a glimpse into what it means for them to have TB — which can help health workers shape public health campaigns that a community can relate to. The disease we know as TB today — a term coined by Robert Koch in 1882 when he described the small round nodules he saw under the microscope as tuberculi — has been known, but also misunderstood, through the ages. Back in the 13th century, TB of the lymph nodes was called “the King’s-Evill”(sic), which came from people

Home Articles Why is TB called the ‘disease of paper’ in Eastern Cape villages? Articles Opinion Why is TB called the ‘disease of paper’ in Eastern Cape villages? Helene-Mari van der Westhuizen – March 25, 2024 Helene-Mari van der Westhuizen March 25, 2024 Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Linkedin A nurse assists a patient at the Buchele Clinic in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape. (Oupa Nkosi) World TB Day is on 24 March (it was commemorated this past Sunday), the date in 1882 when Robert Koch described as tubercles the small round lumps he saw under the microscope when looking at culture samples of the germ

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