Retired HV Alison Wall reflects on what can be learned about the Covid-19 pandemic and future threats by looking at lessons from the Great Plague.
Having recently written a book on this topic, I reflect on the value of learning from historical developments in nursing and healthcare by comparing our responses to the Covid pandemic and the Great Plague…
Read the full article in the journal.
Alison Wall is a nurse, midwife and HV. Before retiring, she was a public health strategist in Camden and Islington in London. Alison qualified as a nurse at Middlesex Hospital and is now trustee of the Middlesex Hospital Nurses’ Benevolent Fund.
Alison’s book Plague Houses and Pandemics (New Generation Publishing, 2023) is available from bookshops and online.
REFERENCES
Al-Anouti et al. (2021) Associations between genetic variants in the Vitamin D metabolic pathway. Nutrients. 13(11): 3680.
Boyd D. (2021) Plagues and Pandemics. Pen and Sword Books: Barnsley: 67.
Byrne J. (2024) Encyclopedia of the Black Death. Bloomsbury: London:217.
Currie M. (2005) Fever Hospitals and Fever Nurses, A British Social History of Fever Nurses: A National Service. Routledge: Abingdon.
Jia HP et al. (2005) ACE2 Receptor Expression and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
Journal of Virology. 79(23): 14614-21.
Latham RC, Matthews W(b). (Eds). (2010) The Diary of Samuel Pepys: Volume VI – 1665. Harper Collins: London. 120:181.
Majdic G. (2020) Could Sex/Gender Differences in ACE2 Expression in the Lungs Contribute to the Large Gender Disparity in the Morbidity and Mortality of Patients Infected With the SARS-CoV-2 Virus? See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7295901/ (accessed 17 September 2024).
National Archives. (2024) Source 2. See: bit.ly/3X5Z3c7 (accessed 27 August 2024).
RCN archives. (2019) The British Journal of Nursing, 1934. See: https://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/volumes/82/Volume%2082%20Page%2020 (accessed 27 August 2024).
WHO. (2024) Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). See: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1 (accessed 17 September 2024).
Image | Adobe Stock
