It feels strange to be writing a review of Phantom Plague by Vidya Krishnan while the Untied States and the rest of the world continues into their third year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tuberculosis has been center stage in many pieces of fiction in the Western world. It acted as a frightening boogeyman, or the thing that made a mother have to leave her family to go to a retreat in the woods to breathe good air. The truth is, the majority of the media we have today tells of the story of a Western disease that was treated and acts as a background monster that doesn't really cross our minds. Vidya Krishnan wants to help rid you of those illusions. 

In areas of predominately black and brown populations, the tuberculosis cure was never made readily available. While the tuberculosis bacillus continues to change and adapt in order to survive, it comes back due to misguided human intervention. It could be a political coup, making it impossible for medicine to cross the borders. It could be philanthropists that try to do good work, but not always with the know how or best intentions. It unfortunately can also be a racial issue used to reduce populations.  Krishnan traces the history of Tuberculosis and shows it from everywhere from 19th century New York to Mumbai in present day. With aggressive new strains of Tuberculosis in the world, this book is an absolutely fascinating look at a problem that parallels another virus due to willful or unequal medical care. 

Phantom Plague is available February 1, 2022 from Public Affairs Publishing.

As a public health worker new to and specifically working in the area of tuberculosis, I was extremely interested in this book. While I'd venture to say I possess slightly more knowledge about TB than the average person, I was surprised by how much I learned reading 'Phantom Plague'. For sure, TB is an ancient foe of the human race, but I was unaware of its more recent complex history, how inextricably linked it is to HIV/AIDS, and how it became the center of patent wars -- I never would've learned of the immense difficulties and continuing struggles to provide life-saving medications to people with active TB disease in developing nations. I found this book equally engrossing and shocking; reading Chapter 5: Inside Building Number 10 evoked a multitude of feelings, of horror, disbelief, sadness. I now understand the meaning behind the book's title, and it's a sad commentary on how the forces at play (Big Pharma, governments, even philanthropists) have arrived at this point in the war against TB. This book leaves me with much to ponder and follow-up questions I intend to research further on my own. I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy, and look forward to purchasing the book when it is published in February.

I really enjoyed this book. It's fascinating how mankind's understanding of pathogens and disease has evolved throughout history. I had not known much about tuberculosis beyond the basics.. The stories of TB patients were very disheartening. This book was incredibly well researched and informative.

I had mixed feelings about this book and if I could, I would rate it 3.5 stars. I feel that the content is important and that it clearly shows existing inequities in healthcare, which would gain it a 5-star rating. While the book focuses on India, its lessons are broadly applicable to the developing world. All this made the book a compelling read. On the other hand, there was not a lot of science in the book and it strayed away from tuberculosis in order for the author to make points about current economic structures. I also did not enjoy the tone of the book which came across as pontificating, so much so that even when I agreed with the content, which was quite frequent, I was still ready to put down the book several times, hence the lower star rating. There are better books on tuberculosis out there, including Catching Breath by Kathryn Lougheed (which I received as an advance reader copy from the publisher). Thank you to Netgalley and PublicAffairs/Bold Type Book for the advance reader copy.