Recklessness is not, however, to be the desired default and an excuse for government inaction. These are just a few examples from amongst the annals of medical history where self-regard and preservation were disregarded for the benefit of others. Marie Curie, who died from leukaemia, was just one of the early radiographers who died as a result of excessive exposure to radiation. Their work not only led to the discovery of ritualistic cannibalism being the cause of transmission of the laughing death, but also contributed towards elusive prions being identified as a causative agent of disease. Scientists such as Vincent Zigas and Daniel Carleton Gajdusek spent months trekking through the remote regions of Papua New Guinea, observing and documenting cases of kuru, a rare spongioform encephalopathy, amongst the Fore people. He later discovered its eggs in his faeces thus helping elucidate the lifecycle of the worms. The Italian physician and zoologist Giovanni Battista Grassi took his sense of duty to new heights as he infected himself with the eggs of the giant roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides.
The American virologist Jonas Salk tested his polio vaccine on himself and his family, which, after a few setbacks, led to the plummeting of polio cases in the United States. Jenner, famously, carried out the more formal inoculation on the son of his gardener and then later his own child which eventually led to the eradication of smallpox from the world.
A Dorset farmer Benjamin Jesty, a few decades before the more well known Edward Jenner, rubbed matter from cowpox pustules onto the arms of his wife and children to protect them from smallpox. We stand on the shoulders of people who took many risks to provide us with the information and techniques which we rely on as we go to work every day. So where does one turn to for guidance in such unprecedented times?Īs the famous American polymath Carl Sagan put it, “you have to know the past to understand the present”. Consternation has been exacerbated by news of huge numbers of healthcare workers falling ill with tragic consequences in some. Serious concerns have been raised about the availability of appropriate protective equipment for front line staff. They carry the greater responsibility of having to ensure the safety of the public at large but also loved ones at home.
Consternation has been exacerbated by news of huge numbers of healthcare workers falling ill with tragic consequences in some.However, the fear is shared by those on the frontline too.
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