Kingston wasn't spared from the ravages of The King's Evil Kingston wasn't spared from the ravages of The King's Evil - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

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Kingston wasn't spared from the ravages of The King's Evil

Posted By SUSANNA MCLEOD

Posted -23 sec ago

The H1N1 influenza pandemic holds our rapt attention. The virus has been spreading quickly.

Another disease afflicted the population of Canada and Kingston during the last century. Dubbed consumption, the White Plague and the King's Evil, the disease was tuberculosis.

European settlers brought tuberculosis to Canada. A contagious bacterial infection, mycobacterium tuberculosis is spread by inhaling the airborne microscopic droplets from the coughs, sneezes or even exhalations of an infected person. Children were at risk of getting the disease through milk -- cows with TB passed on the germs through their milk. Pasteurization eradicated that problem.

The first symptoms of tuberculosis are persistent coughing, chest pain and fever. Lungs and lymph nodes can become deeply scarred and are unable to function. In severe cases, the TB bacteria spreads throughout the body, in particular, moving to the brain, spinal cord, kidneys or bones. If left untreated, it has the potential to cause disability or death. The bacteria may take hold immediately or may lie dormant in the body for years. About 90% of those who inhale the germs do not get sick.

People in any age group and of any social standing are susceptible to tuberculosis, but the illness prefers victims living in poor and overcrowded conditions. Infecting whole households, TB was initially thought to be genetic. Instead, family members became contaminated from living closely together. The incidence of TB is much higher in aboriginal communities in Canada, and is still a problem for new immigrants. While there is always the threat of a resurgence, this disease is under control in Canada. But across the globe, tuberculosis continues to kill millions of people each year.

Before the introduction of antibiotics, the sanatorium was the place to be for sufferers. It was a specialized hospital where rest, good nutrition and treatment were available.

In Kingston, the Sir Oliver Mowat Memorial Hospital opened in 1912. Located on King Street, the stone building was fitted with balconies spacious enough to hold the beds of patients. Fresh air, even though it was icy cold in the dead of winter, was one of the approved therapies. Patients and their beds were positioned on the lawn, and those who were more mobile sat in chairs to soak up the sun and air. Those stuck inside were still enjoying cool air, as there was no heat in the building except for the dressing rooms. Recovery at the Mowat Hospital took from a few months to 1 1 /2 years or more.

The Department of National Defence took over the building during the First World War. TB patients in the military were admitted to the Mowat hospital, having acquired the nasty disease overseas. Nicknamed "the San" (for sanatorium), it was regarded as one of the largest hospitals battling tuberculosis in Canada.

In 1924, the Department of National Defence bowed out of the sanatorium, putting control of the facility into the hands of the Kingston Health Association. Overwhelmed by the size of the 180-bed operation, the association sold the hospital a year later, moving the civilians to Kingston General Hospital. The building became part of the Rockwood Hospital (later the L. S. Penrose Centre), a segment of which is now the Providence Continuing Care Mental Health Centre.

The medical director of the sanatorium, Dr. Bruce H. Hopkins, was irate over the closing of the specialized hospital and the authorities' lack of foresight. He argued that the move "crippled the anti-tuberculosis program of eastern Ontario for many years," noted Ellen Barton inDriven by a Dream: The Story of Ongwanada from 1948-1998.

Becoming director of the TB wards at Kingston General Hospital, Dr. Hopkins also treated patients in his home clinic. He also participated in politics. The doctor was elected as a city alderman from 1927 to 1932 and as mayor in 1933; he held that post for a year. Recognizing that hospitals were not suitable for the long-term rehabilitation of infectious patients, officials acknowledged that another sanatorium was needed for Kingston and the area. However, a new institution was not in the plans any time soon.

Decades of petitioning governments and hospitals flew by. Twenty-three years later, on Aug. 8, 1948, Ongwanada -- whose name was an Ojibwa word meaning "our home" -- opened with 150 beds. Situated on Park Street, the new care facility was in a wartime double H-shaped building. Originally constructed to house women working at Alcan during the Second World War, the structure had been converted to a veterans' hospital in 1946.

The Ongwanada sanatorium operated under the East Central Counties Tuberculosis Association, with Dr. Hopkins as director. At that time, the average cost of caring for a TB patient was set at $4.50 per day, and was paid by the provincial government.

Supplied with up-to-date equipment, Ongwanada had stationary and mobile X-ray equipment, a surgical suite and a nursing school. It had sunrooms, rehabilitation programs and a cheery, homey atmosphere. The facility was a success, operating with a high occupancy rate. The mobile chest clinics and regular hospital clinics were valuable in diagnosing tuberculosis. Among other procedures that were performed, people with severe cases underwent thoracic surgery to collapse one affected lung so it could rest and heal. No matter how good the care, death still lingered. In 1949, 30 tuberculosis patients died at Ongwanada.

The introduction of streptomycin and other drugs at mid-century proved valuable in treating and curing tuberculosis. The number of patients requiring long-term treatment at the sanatorium dwindled, and the wards of hospital beds were now empty. Ongwanada eventually was transformed into a home for severely disabled children and a chronic care facility.

As occasional new cases of tuberculosis erupt in Kingston and Canada, hospital treatment is no longer required. A series of antimicrobial drugs are prescribed, and strains of drug-resistant TB are being managed. In 2005, 1,616 cases of TB were reported in Canada. However, according to the Canadian Lung Association, tuberculosis "remains one of the biggest killers of humans in other parts of the world." More than two million people succumb to the dreaded disease each year. In some parts of the world, The King's Evil still rules.

Susanna McLeod is a writer living in Kingston's north end and a former member of the Whig-Standard's Community Editorial Board.

Article ID# 2180683

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	$propaganda_theme1 90% [news] [concept]	"terrorism" "immigrants" "aboriginal"	4	Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) http://www.drugwarfacts.org/druguse.htm http://www.drugwarfacts.org/racepris.htm http://www.narcoterror.org/
	$propaganda_theme2 70% [news] [concept]	"killers" "death" "problem"	5	Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://www.drugwarfacts.org/crime.htm http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm Distortion 18: Cannabis and Mental Illness
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	$school [news] [concept]	"school"	3	http://www.ssdp.org/
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