Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Victor Grech

  • The history of quarantine and contact tracing as surveillance strategies

    Mariella ScerriVictor GrechMalta Quarantine, from the Italian quaranta, meaning forty, is a centuries-old public health measure instituted to control the spread of infectious diseases by mandating isolation, sanitary cordons, and other mitigation measures.1 Though essential in preventing the spread of disease, such measures have often been controversial, as they raised “political, ethical, and socioeconomic issues…

  • To wear or not to wear? Attitudes towards mask wearing then and now

    Mariella ScerriVictor GrechMellieha, Malta 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 the virus. However, in a volatile environment induced by a pandemic, the use of masks also stoked political division. Although medical authorities urged the…

  • The use of language in health and illness narratives

    Mariella ScerriVictor Grech Malta While I was as busy as anyoneon the sunny plain of life, I heardof you laid aside in the shadowyrecess where our sunshine ofhope and joy could neverpenetrate to you.– Harriet Martineau1 Literary works can illustrate the loneliness and social isolation experienced by people when they are sick.2 The chasm between health…

  • Drawing parallels in pandemic art

    Mariella Scerri Mellieha, MaltaVictor GrechPembroke, Malta “Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky.”1 Albert Camus, The Plague Experts have long analyzed plans and developed scenarios to respond to an infectious…

  • COVID-19 and Malta’s Black Plague epidemic of 1813

    Victor GrechPembroke, Malta Malta in the British Empire In the nineteenth century Malta had a population of around 91,000 people and was governed by the British Empire. Despite its small size and absence of natural resources, the island was an important Mediterranean crossroads, with a vital natural harbor and a crucial military base. Malta had…

  • The heart in Star Trek

    Victor GrechTal-Qroqq Star Trek (ST) is a fictional utopian future history depicting how humanity might develop up to the 24th century. The series and movies comprise a metanarrative that encompasses 735 hours of viewing time, and thereby provides a fertile ground for analysis of various areas of critical study. In several ST episodes, the heart…