Modern pandemics and old methods: What AIDS, SARS, ebola and the long history of quarantine tell us about COVID-19

Michael Bartos*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    A generation ago, infectious diseases were seen as a medical backwater, with the eradication of smallpox and widespread vaccination against polio. However, the emergence of AIDS in the early 1980s, followed by SARS in 2003, pandemic influenza in 2009 and Ebola on an unprecedented scale in 2013-14 showed that infectious diseases of zoonotic origin could cause major new pandemics. Covid-19 has shown that very old public health techniques of quarantine and isolation are still needed to respond to new outbreaks. Public health always tries to get ahead of an emerging epidemic but rarely succeeds.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number5416
    Pages (from-to)1-8
    Number of pages8
    JournalAsia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
    Volume18
    Issue number14
    Publication statusPublished - 15 Jul 2020

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