To Quarantine or Not To Quarantine: A Medical Perspective

Quarantine: voluntary or not?

By utilizing quarantine and isolation as public health tools we are in many ways battling twenty-first century pathogens with a fourteenth century toolbox. It is important for all to recognize the technical difference between the distinct public health measures of isolation and quarantine. Isolation is the separation and/or restricted movement of persons with a contagious disease from the large...

How to Exercise During Coronavirus Quarantine?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused stress and anxiety in many people that can be reduced by regular physical activity. Regular physical exercise is essential for health. In the absence of COVID-19 symptoms, no limitation in physical activity is recommended.  However, parameters such as frequency, intensity, type, and time need to be considered to prescribe the program and obtain the best results. Con...

Etymologia: Quarantine

Quarantine Stressing Voluntary Compliance

A 1-day table-top exercise in San Diego, California, in December 2004 emphasized voluntary compliance with home quarantine to control an emerging infectious disease outbreak. The exercise heightened local civilian-military collaboration in public health emergency management. Addressing concerns about lost income by residents in quarantine was particularly challenging.

Predicting Quarantine Failure Rates

Preemptive quarantine through contact-tracing effectively controls emerging infectious diseases. Occasionally this quarantine fails, however, and infected persons are released. The probability of quarantine failure is typically estimated from disease-specific data. Here a simple, exact estimate of the failure rate is derived that does not depend on disease-specific parameters. This estimate is ...