2013 Review of Speaking of Epidemics by Joanna Grant in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine (original) (raw)
Related papers
Epidemics and Pandemics -the Historical Perspective. Introduction
Historical Social Research Supplement 33 (2021): 7-33., 2021
»Epidemien und Pandemien-die historische Perspektive. Einleitung«. Every historical period has its characteristic epidemic. In the Middle Ages, up to one-third of the European population died of the plague epidemic called the Black Death (1346 to 1353). Later, cholera, Spanish flu, and AIDS terrified the population. Every epidemic triggered social changes and functioned as a catalyst for developments, which were already taking place. In addition to the often-devastating impact on life and health, epidemics and pandemics hold potential for innovations. The Black Death certainly led to a rising standard of living and is even said to have accelerated the development of printing. In the 19th century, cholera was considered to be a motor of sanitary reforms, such as central water supply and sewerage. The current Sars-CoV-2 pandemic clearly shows that epidemics are still part of human history and not just, as has long been believed, limited to the Global South.
Civilisations: collapse and regeneration: addressing the nature of change and transformation in history, Miroslav Bárta, Martin Kovář (eds.), 2019
In this essay we will first explain the history of the term “epidemic” and its long term companion “plague”. Our goal is to demonstrate that, in the past, there was no clear division between these two words and that modern understanding of plague as a specific disease with a clearly defined pathological agent cannot be applied within a historical context. In the second part, we will suggest three frameworks, in which we can analyze the emergence of epidemics or plagues. The first one is paleopathological (i.e. since what time do we detect traces of infectious agents in human remains); the second framework is cultural (which narratives mark the oldest and most devastating epidemiological crises), and the third one is bio-medical (when was the cause of plague as well as other infectious diseases discovered by modern medicine). The third part of this paper will present a short list of some of the most important biological pathogens (plague, leprosy, TB, syphilis, smallpox, HIV, flu) and put them into a chronological perspective.
A Physician’s Encounter with Epidemics: Courage vis-á-vis Ignorance
Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, 2020
Italian physician Dr. Luigi Mongeri (1815–82), who graduated from the School of Medicine in Pavia and worked as chief physician at Süleymaniye and Toptaşı Lunatic Asylums, introduced important reforms that shaped modern psychiatry in the Ottoman Empire. Before the appointment to Süleymaniye, Mongeri worked as a sanitary physician in the International Quarantine Organization from 1840 to 1849. This article examines Mongeri’s encounter with epidemics while focusing on his work on cholera. With this in mind, I will try to bring Mongeri’s experiences and challenges to today’s scenario and discuss them within the context of COVID-19 pandemic. A physician’s life during cholera years does not teach us directly about today’s pandemic, but learning from a physician’s perspective may show us how the epidemics and pandemics are not merely matters of health, but also matters of politics and behavioural patterns of the society.
From Hippocrates to COVID-19 A Bibliographic History of Medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic provides stark evidence of the importance of medicine on a global scale. However, revisiting the influenza pandemic of 1918 provided a perspective as we searched for a viable vaccine and instituted public health measures. This shows that medical knowledge is an accumulative process extending to the past and it is in the spirit of that legacy that this bibliography has been compiled. The book is a one-stop resource that cites literature related to the historical aspects of medicine. It also acknowledges medicine’s global reach and devotes significant effort in that respect. Although the online world seems to dominate on both a social and educational level, there is still a need for thoughtfully curated and focused reference works and this bibliography accomplishes that goal. The book has 9,000+ citations. It utilizes the WHO's International classification of Diseases for the section on diseases and disorders and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's Product Code Classification Database for the section on medical devices, equipment, and instruments. It includes detailed subject, geographic, and people indexes for an easy reference.
The history of disease control
1700-tal: Nordic Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies
Since I began studying history in the autumn of 1992, my main focus of interest has always been health history; the history of diseases; and the history of health workers, pregnant women, and women giving childbirth. I graduated with a BA in history in 1996, an MA in history in 2000, and a PhD in history in 2016. No doubt, my earlier career has kindled my continuing interest in health history, as I am a certified nurse and have worked as one for many years. This past autumn, this interest took a new and unexpected form, as I responded to the pleas of health authorities by joining the so-called backup group of health workers to ease the pressure created by the covid-19 epidemic that has taken a great toll on our countrymen. At present, I am working as a nurse in the covid-19 outpatient facility that was established more than two years ago, its existence unique in the world. This facility has helped those who contract covid-19 to stay isolated at home instead of entering the disease control unit of the National University Hospital of Iceland. Those who contract covid-19 can go to the covid outpatient facility and receive medical care. Most often, patients have been allowed to go home after examination and care or have been admitted to the hospital if their condition is serious. It has proved to be a valuable experience for me to get to know and treat covid patients in this outpatient facility. I have, for example, been compelled to wear special protective clothing to protect me from getting sick myself, despite having had three shots against covid-19. When the virus epidemic began to spread throughout the world at the beginning of 2020, I was actually researching another disease caused by another virus called morbilli. This virus causes measles in people and brought much suffering and death to Icelanders in earlier times. In the years 1846 and 1882, there were large measles epidemics in Iceland, and it is believed that about 3,000 Icelanders, children and adults, died from measles. Though this is the most contagious
The Journal of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, 1987
Irrational responses to patient with AIDS, particularly in regards to the transmissibility of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) are examined from an historical and psychosocial perspective. Although these responses are similar to those reported from past epidemics such as plague and leprosy, they are in direct conflict with our current level of understanding regarding the transmission of this virus. Their genesis may relate to the human penchant to react to illness metaphorically. In order to allay effectively public concern about the transmissibility of AIDS, it is essential to recognize the metaphor associated with venereal disease in general and AIDS in particular. Reports of the ongoing epidemic of human retroviral disease, manifested in its most extreme form as AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), have been punctuated with accounts of irrational responses to victims of the disease. When an AIDS patient died in Queens, N.Y., during the summer of 1983, his neighbors tried unsuccessfully to have his children removed from school as a health hazard. In October 1984, officers of a Manhattan district court wore masks and gloves at a trial where the defendant had AIDS. Occasionally, even physicians have succumbed to exaggerated fears of infection. A surgical resident from Boston reportedly told a hospitalized patient admitted to rule out the diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, to leave the hospital rather than "contaminate" other patients. 1 Reactions such as these are not unusual during epidemics. The concept of quarantine as it was developed by Italian health magistrates