COVID-19 and 1665: learning from Daniel Defoe
Brian Birch Southampton, Hampshire, UK London plague victims being buried in 1665, one of nine scenes from John Dunstall’s Plague broadsheet (1666). Credit: Wellcome Collection. (CC BY 4.0) Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year is an account of the 1665 Great Plague of London. Based on eyewitness experience, the undersigned initials “H. F.” […]
Covid battleground
Elena Wilson Rockville, Maryland, United States A collage showcasing the way COVID-19 cases have dominated our minds. Edited to include a trend line of cases. Original by Gerd Altmann, via Pixabay. Up and down, up and down they rise Forgetting so easily all of the cries Cries for help, cries for change Cries for […]
Book Review of Intensive Care: A GP, A Community and COVID-19
Arpan K. Banerjee Solihull, United Kingdom Intensive Care: A GP, A Community and COVID-19. Gavin Francis is a family doctor in Scotland who has written several critically-acclaimed books. In his latest work, he chronicles his experience of the COVID-19 pandemic as a family doctor (general practitioner or GP) and the effects of the virus […]
Ancient Greek plague and coronavirus
Patrick Bell Belfast, Northern Ireland Plague in an Ancient City by Michael Sweerts, ca 1650. Credit Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Introduction Homer’s Iliad, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War have been termed “the three earliest, and arguably most influential, representations of the plague in Western narrative.”1 This […]
The loneliness of the long-living doctor
Peter Arnold Sydney, Australia Study of the head of an old man. Peter Paul Rubens. between 1610 and 1615. Kunsthistorisches Museum. Via Wikimedia. A noticeable phenomenon of the twenty-first century is the increasing frequency of friendships between older men. The importance of such friendships to both mental and physical health has been well documented.1,2,3 […]
To wear or not to wear? Attitudes towards mask wearing then and now
Mariella Scerri Victor Grech Mellieha, Malta In September 1918, the Red Cross recommended two-layer gauze masks to halt the spread of “plague.” Image: Public Domain via Wikimedia. More than a century ago, as the 1918 influenza pandemic raged around the globe, masks of gauze and cheesecloth became the facial frontlines in the battle against […]
A wrong time to die
Anthony Papagiannis Thessaloniki, Greece Lockdown in Thessaloniki. Photo by the author. Death is the one absolute and unexceptional certainty in life. In the Bible we read that there is a time for everything, including a time to die [Ecclesiastes 3:2]. Is there ever a “right” time to die? Faced with such a question, we […]
Solitude
Donna Pucciani Wheaton, Illinois, United States You’ve got to walk that lonesome valley . . . —American Folk Song Photo by Donna Pucciani We learn to be alone for months when microscopic murder floats in the air like so much smoke. We learn to fear the passing stranger whose only misdeed is walking […]
Book Review of Island Dreams: Mapping an Obsession
Arpan K. Banerjee Solihull, United Kingdom Cover of Island Dreams: Mapping an Obsession by Gavin Francis. Gavin Francis is a Scottish doctor, author, and traveler who has worked in emergency medicine, family medicine, and as the resident doctor for the Antarctic survey, which resulted in a previous book. His wanderlust and way with words […]
Wellbeing
Sanjana Sundara Raj Sreenath El Paso, Texas, United States This painting portrays the physical and psychological impact of the pandemic. It captures not only the physical isolation due to social distancing but also feelings of loneliness. The cognitive and mental health after-effects can persist long after recovering from Covid-19. With increased feelings of anxiety, […]