‘Quarantine’ not so known word for all of us has suddenly become talk of the entire world since a year. In this millennium, the centuries-old practice of quarantine has emerged as a powerful tool of the public health response to contain COVID-19. During the 2003 pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the use of quarantine, border controls, contact tracing, and surveillance proved effective in containing the global threat in just over 3 months. It is one of the oldest, useful, most effective public health measures. Implementation of correct quarantine procedures is still feasible, useful, cost effective and produces significant results with minimum loss of life. It has to be well throughout, tailored according to geographical, social, economic and health conditions.
History of Quarantine
The word ‘quarantine’ was first coined in Oxford English Dictionary, in 1663, as “A period (originally of forty days). People who might spread a contagious disease are kept isolated from the rest of the community; especially a period of detention imposed on travellers before they are allowed to enter a country or town, and mix with the inhabitants; commonly, the period during which a ship, capable of carrying contagion, is kept isolated on its arrival at a port. 40 days, this period had already been identified with precision by the Hippocratic School, which, around the fifth century B.C., described a number of diseases with specific reference to their duration.
In 18th century the plague, cholera, yellow fever, and smallpox were partially controlled through quarantine. The Quarantine Act was passed in England in 1710, which stipulated a sentence of death for persons not respecting the compulsory 40-day quarantine for humans and goods arriving on the island and suspected or known to have been in contact with the plague. Similar laws were passed in the United States, too; a quarantine anchorage off Bedloe’s Island was issued in 1738 by the City Council of New York to prevent the diffusion of yellow fever and smallpox
What is Quarantine?
Quarantine is the process of restraint or segregation of human beings or other living creatures, who may have come, either potentially or actually, into contact with transmissible pathologies, until the moment when it is considered certain that they no longer constitute a health risk.
Quarantine has not lost its relevance
With the advancements in modern medicines highly effective antibiotic newer therapies the quarantine was considered not a practice of 21st century. The onset of COVID pandemic has brought back the importance of age-old practice.
The recent, worldwide realities of ‘new’ transmissible pathologies like COVID-19 including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the avian influenza, have provided evidence of the fact that human beings are still engaged in a struggle against pathogen agents. These communicable diseases have determined a boost in the popularity of quarantine.
Quarantine, isolation, micro containment zones, masks, social distancing, sanitization, washing of the hands & not venturing out of home have remained the most sought-after practices with no costs involved. STAY HOME & STAY SAFE.
Ref:
- Andrea A. Conti Quarantine Through History International Encyclopaedia of Public Health. 2008 : 454–462.
- Eugenia Tognotti Lessons from the History of Quarantine, from Plague to Influenza A Emerg Infect Dis. 2013 Feb; 19(2): 254–259
Dr. Pramod N Sulikeri, Ph.D
