The power of story: what Victorian novels can teach us about public health.

Abstract

Purpose of review: The recent uptick in outbreaks of infectious diseases once firmly under control in North America and the UK (including measles, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, and whooping cough) concerns public health professionals in light of increasing vaccine skepticism. Because disease prevention and cure have evolved slowly, the general public may misunderstand the potential impact of rejecting vaccines and need stories that will clarify the risks.

Recent findings: Studying history and literature reveals that modern citizens of wealthy, industrialized nations have forgotten the emotional cost of widespread child mortality. Examples from nineteenth-century novels offer vivid reminders of the agonies created by communicable diseases in an age before vaccines and antibiotics. Better understanding both the causes of child mortality - which hovered near 50% in North America and the UK in the 1840s - and the shared cultural grief such losses produced is a powerful reminder of why no one would want to return to that public health moment.

Summary: Medical health professionals might usefully complement their scientific understanding with history, in order to be better equipped to reach those who are vaccine hesitant.