First patients at Rankin Park chest hospital, June 12, 1947.
TB, an old foe, half-forgotten but not gone
The recent appearance of two clusters of tuberculosis disease in Australia is a reminder that this deadly old foe has not been eradicated. Indeed, it is estimated that about a quarter of the world's population harbours the TB bacteria, with new variants emerging that are harder to treat. No widely effective vaccine is available. Growing up in the suburb of Rankin Park, Newcastle, NSW, I was aware that there was - a few kilometres through the bushland near my home - a "chest hospital". That's what my father called it, whenever we drove past. It was…