Sir, Mimi in La Bohème is generally thought to have died from pulmonary tuberculosis. If so, penicillin would not have helped her (Diary, Oct 19). The world had to wait until 1952 for a chemical-based cure for the disease, a treatment based on streptomycin, para-aminosalicylic acid and isoniazid. This caused TB to retreat, at least for a while. The increasing emergence of drug-resistant strains is now taxing the pharmaceutical industry.
Alan Dronsfield
Emeritus professor of the history of science, University of Derby