★The so-called symbiosis is not an ideal adaptation, but a compromise that is by no means uncomfortable.
★Japanese infectious disease expert Taro Yamamoto talks about the connection between human history and infectious diseases
★Without symbiosis, there will be no future for mankind.
[About the author] Taro Yamamoto, born in 1964, graduated from Nagasaki University School of Medicine in 1990. Doctor. Doctor of Medicine and International Health Sciences. Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Kyoto University. Professor at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University. His majors are international health sciences and tropical infectious diseases. He has traveled to Africa, Haiti and other places to fight against infectious diseases.
[Introduction] This book takes infectious diseases as the theme. It details the love-hate entanglement between infectious diseases and humans starting from the origin of human civilization, and discusses how humans and infectious diseases should coexist in the future. The author traces the relationship between infectious diseases and humans starting from the birthplace of human civilization, and describes the various postures adopted by human society in the face of various threats from infectious diseases. At the beginning of civilization, humans lived a very healthy life free from infectious diseases. With the progress and development of civilization, settled farming and the domestication of wild animals have opened Pandora's box. However, while civilization has become the cradle of infectious diseases, infectious diseases have also provided a natural barrier for humans. The author details the relationship between the spread of infectious diseases and the modern world system, colonialism, and the development of natural resources. After the invention of antibiotics, humans thought they had completely defeated infectious diseases. However, not long after, the Ebola virus was discovered on the African continent, for which no specific medicine has yet been developed. Finally, the author believes that the symbiosis with infectious diseases is not an ideal balanced relationship, but a helpless compromise. Living with an infectious disease does not mean giving up on trying to overcome a disease. The author said at the end of the book: "As a doctor and a person engaged in medical related work, I cannot turn a blind eye to those lives taken away by pathogens."
Reader comments
I especially hate people who spread infectious diseases, like the 10 men mentioned in the book who brought measles to the Faroe Islands. This reminds me of "A Plague Year", both about infectious diseases, and both very enlightening. I think we should pay more attention to infectious diseases and not take it lightly.
I especially hate people who spread infectious diseases, like the 10 men mentioned in the book who brought measles to the Faroe Islands. This reminds me of "A Plague Year", both about infectious diseases, and both very enlightening. I think we should pay more attention to infectious diseases and not take it lightly.