title: A literary approach to tuberculosis: lessons learned from Anton Chekhov, Franz Kafka, and Katherine Mansfield.
abstract: Letters by notable writers from the past century can provide valuable information on the times in which they lived. In this article, attention is drawn to the lessons learned from three famous writers who died of tuberculosis: Anton Chekhov, Franz Kafka, and Katherine Mansfield. The characteristics of the course of the disease in the pre-antibiotic era and the importance of addressing mental health in the management of tuberculosis are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Experimental Tuberculosis Unit (UTE), Fundació Institut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Edifici Laboratoris de Recerca, Can Ruti Campus, Crtra, de Can Ruti, Camí de les Escoles, s/n, 08916, Badalona, Catalonia, Spain; CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias. Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5. Pabellón 11. Planta 0. 28029, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: cvilaplana@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vilaplana
mesh_terms: D005197:Famous Persons; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008093:Literature, Modern; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000266:history*
keywords: Chekhov; Kafka; Literature; Mansfield; Mental health; Tuberculosis