Tag: COVID
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“Killed By Vaccination”: the enduring currency of a nineteenth century illogic
Saty Satya-MurtiSanta Maria, California, United States Vaccine misinformation and anti-vaccination conspiracy theories are not new but have acquired a combative energy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly all the arguments now raised against vaccination were known in the late nineteenth-century, and the vaccine objectors’ rhetoric shows striking similarities to that in use today. Smallpox vaccine opponents:…
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Happy hypoxia
Khyati GuptaMumbai, India Poet’s statement “Happy hypoxia” is a poem I wrote while trying to capture the thoughts of a patient in solitude infected with coronavirus amidst the second wave of the pandemic. Happy hypoxia I wake up at the noise of a tray put next to my bedI know what’s in it even before…
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Covid cascade killed my father
Helen MeldrumWaltham, Maine, United States My father died last year from what I call “Covid cascade,” a series of unforeseen consequences that ensue when Covid-19 breaks out in a healthcare facility. My father did not have the virus at the time he died—in fact, he tested negative three times. I write this hoping it will…
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Covid battleground
Elena WilsonRockville, Maryland, United States Up and down, up and down they riseForgetting so easily all of the criesCries for help, cries for changeCries for more, cries for days Down and up, and down they fallSeeking hope, finding wallsWalls of iron, walls of steelWalls of words, walls of kneels Change is brewing, slowly soonA coming…
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Book Review of Intensive Care: A GP, A Community and COVID-19
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, United Kingdom 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 on the rural and urban communities of Scotland. The devastating…
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The pandemic: A medical student’s perspective
Saira Elizabeth AlexHouston, Texas, United States As medical students, we eagerly await the start of clinical rotations since the first day of school; we anticipate building memorable connections with our colleagues and patients. This is an account of my days as a medical student, three months into clinical rotations, during the COVID-19 pandemic. I write…
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When I heard the learn’d epidemiologist
Dean GianakosLynchburg, Virginia, United States Sitting on the maroon recliner in my den, I am having trouble concentrating on the epidemiologist who is talking on the television. He points to a Covid hot zone on a color-coded map of the United States. The screen changes before I can locate Virginia. Were we brown, or yellow?…
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Plague epidemics and the evolution of language in England
Andrew P. K. WodrichWashington, DC, United States Epidemics have had a profound impact on culture across time. The Antonine Plague, a suspected outbreak of smallpox, wreaked havoc on the Roman Empire of the second century. Amongst its many cultural sequelae, this plague caused a renewed sense of spiritualism and religiosity, which may have created an…
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Being our best selves: Hidden in full view
James StollerPeter ReaAlan KolpCleveland, Ohio, United States We live in a paradox framed by a tension between age-old wisdom about excellence and our current state. The paradox is this: our behaviors and our priorities are often at odds with age-old truths about how we can be our best selves. This paradox—that these truths are widely…