Tubercoulosis was like a "family curse" to the Keats Family

Throughout Keats' life and times, pulmonary TB, usually referred to as consumption in 19th-century England, posed a constant threat. Due in part to rising urbanization and industrialisation, the disease had developed into a serious public health concern throughout the European continent by the 19th century. Nearly 40% of all deaths among the working class were caused by tuberculosis at its height, which at the time afflicted 70–90% of the urban population in Europe. Further evidence of the disease's lack of awareness was the infrequent use of preventative measures.

One of the numerous families affected by Consumption was the Keats family. Keats' maternal uncle, who was revered by the Keats children, passed away from the illness when he was 12 years old. The death of their mother from the same disease occurred two years later, in 1910. The family would continue to suffer from the disease's curse. Tom, Keats' adored brother, contracted the illness in 1817 and passed on the following year. The sickness would affect Keats personally in 1819, and he would succumb to it in February 1821. George Keats, the lone surviving brother who had immigrated to America in 1818, would pass away from the illness almost 20 years later.