Open AccessLogic in the time of coronavirus
Author(s) -
Timothy J. J. Inglis
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of medical microbiology/journal of medical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1473-5644
pISSN - 0022-2615
DOI - 10.1099/jmm.0.001191
Subject(s) - nexus (standard) , causality (physics) , conversation , covid-19 , argumentation theory , public health , public relations , medicine , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , psychology , political science , internet privacy , epistemology , computer science , outbreak , pathology , communication , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , embedded system
Much has happened here since the local news media trumpeted the first Australian COVID-19 fatality, and stirred up a medieval fear of contagion. We now need to take a step back to examine the logic underlying the use of our limited COVID-19 countermeasures. Emerging infectious diseases by their nature, pose new challenges to the diagnostic-treatment-control nexus, and push our concepts of causality beyond the limits of the conventional Koch-Henle approach to aetiology. We need to use contemporary methods of assessing causality to ensure that clinical, laboratory and public health measures draw on a rational, evidence-based approach to argumentation. The purpose of any aetiological hypothesis is to derive actionable insights into this latest emerging infectious disease. This review is an introduction to a conversation with medical microbiologists, which will be supported by a moderated blog.