Quarentine: historical recount from antiquity to the 21st century

Abstract

Introduction: The world is facing a health emergency due to the COVID-19 disease. Since then, a series of measures have been enacted, such as quarantine which dates back centuries.

Objective: To describe the historical background of quarantines throughout human history.

Methods: A historical reception research was carried out, through the bibliographic review, using the level of analysis-synthesis, induction-deduction and historical-logical method; a documentary analysis of 10 bibliographic articles from various sources was done.

Development: Isolation is an old method used to control epidemics. The term of quarantine emerged in Italy in the 14th century during the Black Death epidemic, where ships and people were forced to wait 40 days to enter the city. According to the experiences and the socioeconomic conditions, they have been perfected until now.

Conclusions: Quarantine, as a method to control epidemics, began to be used since the Middle Ages. The use of social networks has allowed young university students of medical sciences to contribute to the work for prevention of COVID-19 disease.