Treatment of TB child patients, Harefield Sanitorium, Harefield, Greater London
This photo show children with TB being treated in their beds outside, under the verandah alongside the wards. Tuberculosis (TB) was an infectious bacterial disease transmitted through the air, that mainly affected people’s lungs. Before vaccines and antibiotics were developed it was treated by sending patients to a hospital in a place with clean air for ‘bed-rest’, often outside. Harefield Sanatorium opened in 1921 for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. Children may have stayed at the sanatorium for up to a few years whilst undergoing treatment. It became world-renown for the treatment of lung and respiratory conditions.
