epidemics
Coronavirus: Why Doctors and Nurses Are Anxious and Angry
The story of the coronavirus is still being written. The stories of polio, Ebola, H.I.V. and measles — all, alas, still in progress — remind us that public health is an ongoing, never-let-’em-up-from-the-mat effort. Narrow vision, data ignorance, image-conscious decision-making and truncated memory are the very elements of contagion. No amount of Purell can sanitize that. More
Keeping Perspective on Ebola
Irrational fears are highly contagious, and there’s no vaccine for that. So just like in the hospital, we need to use universal precautions. Be skeptical of hype. Get your facts from reliable sources and keep things in perspective. More
People, Panic, and Pandemics
The fact that a half-a-million people die each year from filariasis, Guinea worm, and onchocerciasis elicits little more than a yawn. But diseases like Ebola and swine flu had us riveted: horrific pathogens from the primordial African or Asian muck could migrate to infect the innocent Western world. Sounds like a thriller movie. Which it was. Outbreak, in 1995, grossed more money than the budget for most health departments. More
