A familiar species of Crank: Anti-Vaccinationists in medical history

Vaccination, health psychology and mental health make for three well-established and prestigious topoi in medical history. An in-depth look at their historical intersections remains forthcoming, however. Vaccinology’s psychological turns merit historians’ attention, all the more in the light of more recent, post-psychological and infodemiological, perspectives in vaccine acceptance research. Historiography at this point may help appreciating the present, and future, standing of psychological profiling in terms of its explanatory merits and policy uses. Of specific, critical interest is the motif of mental illness historically shared by vaccine advocates and contrarians. Mock-psychiatric nosology was a favored framing device for vaccination polemicists early on, indeed before vaccines were called vaccines and before psychiatry came to be called psychiatry. Though long anticipated, substantive historical-sociological and empirical approaches to vaccine non-acceptance were seen only from the 1920s and 1930s, respectively. Today, spirited animosity over vaccination continues to invite both professional and public debate about the founding concepts, the basic tenets, and the defining boundaries, of the mental health sciences.     

Rhinoplasty in China: A review of the most important events in its history of development

A review of the literature in commonly used retrieval systems generally yields minimal or no pertinent information on the early works of Chinese doctors. Herein, the early works in rhinoplasty by pioneers Dr. Maolian Hu (胡懋廉) and Dr. PC Nyi (倪葆春) were retrieved from the database of Chinese Medical Journal published before 1949 that overseas doctors could not gain access to online possibly due to the language barrier in collecting and processing those old professional data by main retrieval systyems. They published original articles on costal cartilage applications for correction of saddle noses in as early as 1939 and 1949, respectively, which represent the earliest attempts of treating nasal deformities with costal cartilages in China as well as in Asia. The private cosmetic surgical practices in rhinoplasty from the 1930s to the 1940s were recovered and briefly reviewed, and some of the most important clinical cases were presented. Other important events related to rhinoplasty, such as the establishment of the first national society of rhinoplasty in Chengdu, China in 2011 and the successful performance of the first national congress on rhinoplasty in Shanghai, China in 2012, were included.     

An evaluation of wayfinding abilities in adolescent and young adult males with autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundWayfinding refers to traveling from place to place in the environment. Despite some research headway, it remains unclear whether individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show strengths, weaknesses, or similarities in wayfinding compared with ability-matched typically developing (TD) controls.MethodThe current study tested 24 individuals with ASD, 24 mental-ability (MA) matched TD (MA-TD) controls, and 24 chronological-age (CA) matched TD (CA-TD) controls. Participants completed a route learning task and a survey learning task, both programmed in virtual environments, and a perspective taking task. Their parents completed questionnaires assessing their children’s everyday wayfinding activities and competence.ResultsOverall, CA-TD controls performed better than both the ASD group and the MA-TD group in both wayfinding tasks and the perspective taking task. Individuals with ASD performed similarly to the MA- TD controls on wayfinding performance except for backtracking routes. Perspective taking presented an area of deficit for people with ASD and it predicted individual differences in route learning and survey learning. Parents’ reports did not predict their children’s wayfinding performance. Two mini meta-analyses, including previous studies and the current study, showed a significant deficit in route learning, but not in survey learning for the ASD group relative to MA-TD controls.ConclusionsAlthough participants with ASD showed impairments in wayfinding relative to CA-TD controls, the impairment is not specific to their ASD, but rather due to their mental age. Nevertheless, route reversal in route learning may present unique difficulty for people with ASD beyond the effects of mental age.     

Lessons from the 1656 Neapolitan Plague: Something to learn for the current coronavirus Pandemic?

In the spring of 1656, an epidemic of bubonic plague suddenly fell on Naples, the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The epidemic had put a strain on the government authorities, forcing them to take sometimes drastic measures but, in most cases, scarcely decisive. The current health emergency caused by Covid-19 disease has many similarities with the epidemics of the past. Here we report the parallelism among plague and Covid-19 in several respects. Taking as a paradigm the plague epidemic of Naples of 1656, we can easily understand how history, showing us how past epidemics were managed and overcome, even with the intrinsic differences due to the limits of time and scientific progress, can still give us a useful lesson to face the present.     

Vaccines and vaccine resistance: Past,present and future

BackgroundEdward Jenner, by any definition would be considered the father of vaccinology. His use of cow pox virus for vaccinating against small pox is the prime example of a live vaccine. Using a virus that has very low virulence for humans and therefore, fits the definition of attenuated. Hesitancy towards a vaccine of this type, much before the science of microbiology and immunology were established, would have been justifiable. In the first half of 20th century, large number of vaccines became available for childhood diseases with significant morbidity and mortality. Around the same time global travel and trade led to escalation in the widespread transmission of diseases caused by microbes.ObjectiveThe objective of this narrative is to offer a balanced view of science behind vaccines, their current status and advances expected in the near future. At the same time the various types of reactions from public at large towards vaccines over past decades are reviewed.ContentThis narrative provides a historical perspective of vaccine development, reviews mechanisms of vaccine induced protection, currently available vaccine technologies and vaccines. The focus is on newer vaccines including those utilizing viral vectors and gene based vaccines. Based on the times during which this narrative is being written, messenger RNA vaccines are discussed in detail.ConclusionThe content and review of literature offered in this review makes the impact of vaccines on human life clear. It is also to be accepted that resistance and hesitation towards vaccines is nothing new or limited to vaccines being used during the ongoing pandemic of Covid 19. The continued development of science and products of vaccinology is necessary for further impact on human life. The development of a strong public health infrastructure by nations around the world is the key to improve upon current efforts at public awareness, proactive interventions and appropriate vaccine utilization during all times. Preparedness for epidemics and pandemics would then become more and more efficient than currently in existence.     

The veiled intimacy between neurology and Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) is one of the most important painters of our history. Celebrating 130 years since the death of this genius, this article unveils the surprising relationship between van Gogh and neurology. Besides all his eternal artistic output, Vincent also suffered all his life from a neurological disease. Many articles have already investigated his illness and epilepsy appears to be one of the most reasonable diagnosis. There is much evidence that van Gogh's work was influenced by his neurological condition in several ways. Besides, the analysis of Vincent's life can provide several valuable teachings to neurologists.     

La consultation psychiatrique d’Yves Pélicier ou l’art de la biographie

The teaching and clinical practice of professor Yves Pélicier contributed to the international development of a psychiatry centered on the whole of the person in a humanist approach. The theoretical developments were marked by the authenticity of the practice of the therapist and its deep sense of the human being thus truly founding a School.