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. 2020 Oct;96(1140):633-638.
doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138370. Epub 2020 Sep 9.

Learning from the past in the COVID-19 era: rediscovery of quarantine, previous pandemics, origin of hospitals and national healthcare systems, and ethics in medicine

Pier Paolo Bassareo  1 , Maria Rosaria Melis  2 , Silvia Marras  2 , Giuseppe Calcaterra  3
Affiliations

Learning from the past in the COVID-19 era: rediscovery of quarantine, previous pandemics, origin of hospitals and national healthcare systems, and ethics in medicine

Pier Paolo Bassareo et al. Postgrad Med J. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

After the dramatic coronavirus outbreak at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on 11 March 2020, a pandemic was declared by the WHO. Most countries worldwide imposed a quarantine or lockdown to their citizens, in an attempt to prevent uncontrolled infection from spreading. Historically, quarantine is the 40-day period of forced isolation to prevent the spread of an infectious disease. In this educational paper, a historical overview from the sacred temples of ancient Greece-the cradle of medicine-to modern hospitals, along with the conceive of healthcare systems, is provided. A few foods for thought as to the conflict between ethics in medicine and shortage of personnel and financial resources in the coronavirus disease 2019 era are offered as well.

Keywords: Cardiology; congenital heart disease; echocardiography; paediatric cardiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stone plate with the name of Caffa street (via Caffa) in Genoa, Italy (author: Silvia Marras).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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