Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Mad Cow Disease

  • Bad blood

    Andrea DejeanToulouse, France The French Blood Agency (l’Établissement français du sang; EFS) organizes frequent blood collection campaigns in the small city where I live in southwestern France. These campaigns are often planned to take place before the start of school vacations or just before the end-of-the-year holiday season when many French families take to the…

  • Revisiting the history of kuru

    Tanzila SaiyedChernivtsi, Ukraine An eleven year old girl named Kigea had gradually become unsteady on her feet. She had pain in her arms, joints, and legs, and would cry and scream. She had fits of uncontrollable laughter and shaking. She belonged to the tribe of Fore (pronounced as FOR-AY) of the village called Waisa in…

  • Preparing for a zombie apocalypse

    Larry KerrCarlisle, Pennsylvania, United States What can we learn from a Zombie Apocalypse? The first thing to learn? It could happen. Anyone who has been on this earth for a length of time knows that when a person says something cannot possibly happen, it almost certainly will. Even more worrisome is the disclaimer that if…