Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Alaska

  • Diptheria: Horses and dogs to the rescue

    Jayant RadhakrishnanChicago, Illinois, United States Pierre-Fidèle Bretonneau described diphtheria as a distinct entity in 1821.1 He named it after the Greek word for leather2 because of the thick gray membrane that forms in the throat. Physicians before him, starting with Hippocrates, considered asphyxiating diseases as a group that also included tonsillitis, croup, and malignant angina.…

  • The 1918 Pandemic—the collective story versus the personal narrative

    Mariella ScerriMellieha, Malta Stalin’s claim that a “single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic”1 reverberates at a time when the world is gripped by fear as it tries to come to terms with a pandemic caused by the latest novel coronavirus, SARS-COV-2. Throughout history, humanity has had to contend with new…