Even if they are not sick, people in quarantine are still patients; the physician is responsible for their well-being and may find that it is necessary to advocate for them.
Malaria, HIV and tuberculosis rage as perpetual epidemics in developing nations. Developed nations have an ethical duty and compelling socioeconomic reasons for combatting these global infectious diseases.
Student of medicine and the history of medicine, J Mellinger examines a 14th-century manuscript for evidence of physicians’ duty to treat during the Black Plague.
In “Allocating Scare Resources in a Pandemic,” Martin Strosberg calls attention to the need for preparedness planning including methods for rationing vaccines, antiviral medications, and intensive care unit beds and staff.
The Epidemic Intelligence Service, by Douglas H. Hamilton, traces the history of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, with details about the service’s response to actual and potential epidemic outbreaks.
Allison Bickford, a science student, discusses multidrug-resistant tuberculosis epidemics in New York and Russia in the 1990s. On the verge of global eradication 20 years ago, TB is now one of the leading infectious causes of death in the world.
Article explains the role of surveillance by public health epidemiologists in tracking and controlling infectious diseases in the US and around the world.
Article explains the right granted to state public health agencies by the Supreme Court in Jacobson v Massachusetts to mandate vaccination in the presence of actual or threatened danger to the health of its residents from infectious disease.
Clinical case examines physicians’ duties and risks during an epidemic. Commentaries address physician’s rights vs patients’ rights. Does the duty to treat always override personal or family concerns?