Popular Science Stamp Collecting | Robert Koch and the Discovery of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis was a very terrible disease in the past, especially pulmonary tuberculosis, which was the most common. In my country, pulmonary tuberculosis is also called pulmonary tuberculosis. Patients may cough and sputum at the mildest level, or cough up blood, have chest pain, and even have difficulty breathing at the worst level. As an infectious disease, pulmonary tuberculosis is highly contagious. The air and droplets exhaled by patients when they cough may spread the disease. From 1700 to 1900 alone, 1 billion people died worldwide. Tuberculosis became the number one killer of human life at that time.

In early March 1882, a German doctor named Robert Koch (1843-1910) successfully isolated Mycobacterium tuberculosis using serum solid culture medium and staining method, and inoculated it into guinea pigs to cause pulmonary tuberculosis, thus discovering the cause of pulmonary tuberculosis.

On March 24, 1882, Robert Koch gave a scientific report on the disease-causing effect of tuberculosis bacteria, which was an important discovery in the history of medicine. Koch was surrounded by microscopes and animal tissue specimens during his speech. He began with the terrible history of tuberculosis: "If the degree of the horror of a disease is measured by the number of deaths, then tuberculosis must be more terrible than the most feared infectious diseases, plague, and cholera. Among all people, 1/7 will die of tuberculosis."

Koch's report was highly praised by the scientific community and was considered to be very rigorous, innovative and inspiring. It laid the foundation for the scientific method in the 20th century and Robert Koch became a pioneer in bacteriology. March 24th became a milestone in medical history and is now World Tuberculosis Day.

Robert Koch also won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his outstanding contribution to the study of tuberculosis. Based on his experience in isolating pathogenic bacteria, Koch also summarized the "Koch Principles" to confirm which bacteria caused a specific infectious disease. Under the guidance of this principle, the 1870s to the 1920s became the golden age of discovering pathogens.

March 24, 1982 was the 100th anniversary of Robert Koch's discovery of tuberculosis. my country's postal service issued a commemorative stamp with a face value of 8 cents. On the left side of the picture is a sketch of Robert Koch, and the "double red cross" pattern next to his head is China's anti-tuberculosis symbol; on the right side is an old optical microscope and a view of tuberculosis on the workbench, and there are also test tube racks, culture dishes and slides for observation on the table.

Interestingly, in 1982, Monaco Post also issued a commemorative stamp to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Robert Koch's discovery of tuberculosis, but the date of issuance was not March 24, the recognized date of the announcement of the discovery of tuberculosis, but March 5, which may be the day when tuberculosis was actually discovered in the laboratory. This is an extreme piece of paper with Koch's commemorative stamp and the March 5 commemorative postmark. There are also patterns of microscopes and some chemical containers in the lower left corner of the stamp. The postcard magnified this pattern, making it more vivid and lively. The stamp, postmark and film are well coordinated and unified.

Today, although tuberculosis is controllable, it still exists. March 24 this year marks the 140th anniversary of the discovery of tuberculosis bacteria. The scientific community is still striving to eliminate tuberculosis for mankind. Looking to the future, the scientific research path pioneered by Robert Koch must be bright.