Tuberculosis - disease of the slums. At the time of the industrial revolution tuberculosis raged everywehre in Europe. Towns became overcrowded and slums proliferated as speoplepoured into the first industrial cities. Children of 13 did the work of adults. Towards the middle of the 19th century the death rate from the disease was as high as 500 per 100,000 in some places. Photo shows engraving by Gustave Dore showing slums of London in 1875