St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast

From Hygeia, the Health Magazine, August 1931

To the editor - I have tuberculosis. I am not very ill but I have an abnormal fear of spreading infection to others. In two of my desks, there are books, papers, pencils and pens that have come in contact with me. The pens and pencils I have placed in my mouth; I may have wet my fingers in turning the book pages or my hands may have been sputum soiled. Do you think that my desk and its contents are infected and dangerous? Some time ago I used handkerchiefs for expectoration, which were placed in my coat cuff, pocket or were wrapped in thin paper and placed on the floor until they were washed. Is the closet in which they were placed, its floors or the clothes in it infected? While walking in a field in which cows were grazing, I raised some sputum. Not knowing how to dispose of it at the time, I buried it, but the ground was hard and it was not buried well. Do you think that one of the cows may have come in contact with it and could tuberculosis then develop in the cow? My doctor told me that swallowing either lung sputum or catarrhal discharge from the nasal passages will not harm my health. If sputum were raised and swallowed instead of expectorated, would my lips e soiled nevertheless and need cleaning in order not to spread the bacilli? - L. K, Connecticut