The Deadly Bilibid Prison Vaccine Trials
In 1906, physician Richard Strong's already-unethical vaccine experiment went horribly wrong. Then it was swept under the rug.
Choosing Love over Eugenics
Some writers see contagion as a metaphor for community—proof that we exist within an interdependent network and not as autonomous disconnected islands.
The Surgeons Who Said No to Gloves
In the late 1800s, doctors in German-speaking countries were having trouble agreeing on one simple thing: whether to wear gloves during surgery.
How Children Took the Smallpox Vaccine around the World
In 1803, nearly two dozen orphan boys endured long voyages and physical discomfort to transport the smallpox vaccine to Spain's colonies.
How to Memorialize a Plague
Vienna's baroque Plague Column, completed in 1693, gave thanks for the survival of a city.
Cracking the Malaria Mystery—from Marshes to Mosquirix
It took science centuries to understand malaria. Now we’re waiting to see how the 2019 vaccine pilot works.
Anti-Asian Racism in the 1817 Cholera Pandemic
We should learn from, instead of repeating, the racist assignations of the past.
When Coffee Cargo Was Quarantined
In the 1800s, sick passengers weren’t blamed for disease epidemics—their baggage and cargo was.
The Study of Human Anatomy and the Corpses of Vienna
For cultural and geographical reasons, the city was a great place to find bodies to dissect. But there was also the matter of one well-connected doctor.