History shows how the term patient zero leads to blame and scapegoating.
. While there are legitimate reasons for discussing each of these situations, better terminology exists for doing so.
The Tennessee tuberculosis researchers also pointed out that the index case might not be a true case of disease at all. Someone might appear to be ill, draw attention to a household, but ultimately test negative for tuberculosis. "Crossover case" is readily understood. And"alpha" and"ur" are two words commonly used to describe absolute beginnings, each also hinting, appropriately, at a mythical realm
Long before they had the ability to test for specific germs, those studying epidemics—whether religious, civic or medical authorities—found value in locating the first cases. Like now, they were keen to work out what identifiable factors might have led to ill health in the community. Both types of stories tend to feature people behaving inappropriately, immorally or wickedly, especially by transgressing important boundaries. These might be natural, religious or geographic divides. One finds examples of proposed"ur-cases" of the pox generated by crossed celestial bodies, crossed species or crossed borders.
The most famous instance of these tools being put to use was with typhoid fever and the case of Mary Mallon in early 20th-century New York. Authorities found this Irish American cook to be a"healthy carrier"—capable of infecting others while remaining symptom-free herself—and they advised her against continuing to work as a cook.
In the absence of a definitive test for AIDS, this sexual network of cases, all of which fit the narrowly defined official case definition for the new syndrome, offered an opportunity to study whether the syndrome was caused by a sexually transmissible agent. The Canadian appeared to provide the sexual link to several Californian cases that otherwise did not have any apparent connection.
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