Tuberculosis, Polio, Flu Killed Or Disabled Millions. There Were Many Times of Fearful Contagion Until 1960

Up until the 1880s, tuberculosis killed one of out every seven people living in the US and Europe. That’s when Dr. Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacteria that caused it, the most important step toward the control and the elimination of the deadly disease, according to a timeline from History of Vaccines.org.

“In 1950, 34,000 Americans died o…