History of Health Care: Quarantine and Isolation

Before the nineteenth century, quarantine and isolation had been practiced in an effort to protect the community from contagious diseases such as plague and smallpox in the absence of specific treatment. Such diseases were considered contagious even though the cause and method of transmission were not known. Two important developments occurred during the last half [...]

A Brief History of Isolation and Infectious Disease

Contagious disease has challenged society throughout human history. Quarantine and isolation was practiced in response to the pandemics of bubonic plague and cholera, beginning in the Middle Ages. In the 18th and 19th centuries, smallpox led to smallpox hospitals in some large urban communities. At the same time, citizens lived with the fear of outbreaks [...]