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The Story of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis spreads, with rates particularly high in Black communities.

Date: 1906

The Story of Tuberculosis
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Fifty percent of all Black community members in this era will contract tuberculosis within their lifetime. Throughout the early 1900s, tuberculosis has a significant impact on the entire population of the U.S. In 1906, one in every six deaths results from tuberculosis. The overall death rate will begin to decline in the 1920s, but Black people will continue dying at 2 to 3 times the rate of white people.