From cholera to COVID-19: How pandemics have shaped the development of anaesthesia and intensive care medicine

Adam B Levin; Christine M Ball; Peter J Featherstone

doi:10.1177/0310057X20969701

From cholera to COVID-19: How pandemics have shaped the development of anaesthesia and intensive care medicine

Anaesth Intensive Care. 2020 Nov;48(3_suppl):28-38. doi: 10.1177/0310057X20969701. Epub 2020 Nov 26.

Authors

Adam B Levin¹, Christine M Ball^{2

3}, Peter J Featherstone⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Western Health, Melbourne, Australia.
² Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ John V Farman Intensive Care Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.

PMID: 33241712
DOI: 10.1177/0310057X20969701

Abstract

The infectious pandemics and epidemics of the past 200 years have caused millions of deaths. However, these devastating events have also led to creative thinking, imaginative experimentation and the evolution of medical care. As a result, the history of critical care medicine is entwined with the story of these global disasters. This article will take case studies from recent pandemics and epidemics and examine their impact on the development of anaesthesia and intensive care medicine.

Keywords: COVID-19; Critical care; Ebola; HIV/AIDS; SARS; anaesthesia; cholera; diphtheria; epidemic; history; history of medicine; influenza; intensive care; pandemic; vCJD; war and epidemics.

MeSH terms

Anesthesia* / adverse effects
COVID-19*
Cholera* / epidemiology
Critical Care
Humans
Medicine*
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2