Contagions

Abstract

The history of humanity narrates successive plagues that have struck different geographical areas, always sowing death among the populations, decimating thousands of people. We know this thanks to the writings of historical figures who have reported these long periods of infection, contagion and death since at least the 5th century b.C., when the first plague on the European continent, known as the Athens Plague, broke out. Over the centuries that followed, there are reports of plague reappearances, striking the great cities of that time. More recently, the 20th century, although characterized by the development of a panoply of increasingly effective drugs, is still the stage for the emergence of new epidemics. The present 21st century is already indelibly marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the remarkable advances in biotechnology, the constant mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inevitable uncertainties arising from it puts us in a position analogous to that of our ignorant ancestors regarding plagues that plagued them.