The rise and fall of diseases: reflections on the history of population health in Europe since ca. 1700.

This essay explores the amazing phenomenon that in Europe since ca. 1700 most diseases have shown a pattern of 'rise-and-fall'. It argues that the rise of so many diseases indicates that their ultimate cause is not to be sought within the body, but in the interaction between humans and their environment. In their tireless pursuit of a better life, Europeans have constantly engaged in new activities which exposed them to new health risks, at a pace that evolution could not keep up with. Fortunately, most diseases have also declined again, mainly as a result of human interventions, in the form of public health interventions or improvements in medical care. The virtually continuous succession of diseases starting to fall in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries suggests that the concept of an "epidemiological transition" has limited usefulness.

The object of study of hygiene in the texts published in Spain in the 19th century.

With the current COVID-19 pandemic that humanity is experiencing and the mobilization of all health systems to exercise sanitary measures such as quarantines and other measures to reduce infections, it should be remembered that these practices have been possible thanks to the experiences that in hygiene matters we have accumulated in our history. This essay aims to highlight about hygiene, the historicity of the concept, and its object of study as a medical discipline, in medical texts published in Spain during the 19th century, to help us understand the contributions of this science to current clinical practice and for these purposes, the bibliographic material was obtained from the National Library of Spain.

Con la actual pandemia de COVID-19 que la humanidad vive y la movilización de todos los sistemas de salud para ejercer medidas sanitarias, como los confinamientos, las cuarentenas y otras medidas para disminuir los contagios, vale la pena recordar que estas prácticas han sido posibles por las experiencias que en materia de higiene hemos acumulado en nuestra historia. Este ensayo tiene como objetivo destacar la higiene, la historicidad del concepto y su objeto de estudio como disciplina médica, en textos publicados en España en el siglo XIX, para ayudarnos a entender los aportes de esta ciencia a la práctica clínica actual. Con tales fines se obtuvo el material bibliográfico en la Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Brazilian nursing in pandemic times and the bicentennial of Florence Nightingale.

OBJECTIVE: To reflect on the role of Brazilian nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic, considering as a historical landmark the bicentenary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, a precursor of modern nursing, celebrated in 2020. METHOD: Theoretical-reflective study, based on Florence Nightingale's environmental theory through a literature review, carried out in international and national virtual news from different sources and added to the authors' experiences related to the pandemic. RESULTS: It was possible to identify the weaknesses experienced by nurse practitioners as to contagion by COVID-19, the routine of exposure to risks, the lack of adequate protection in many scenarios, the high rates of illness, and also deaths that occurred in this profession. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: Florence Nightingale's Environmental Theory describes the importance of the adequacy of the work environment. It also emphasizes the value of this professional for contemporary nursing and the redefinition of this professional category during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Climate Change and Obesity.

Global warming and the rising prevalence of obesity are well described challenges of current mankind. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic arose as a new challenge. We here attempt to delineate their relationship with each other from our perspective. Global greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels have exponentially increased since 1950. The main contributors to such greenhouse gas emissions are manufacturing and construction, transport, residential, commercial, agriculture, and land use change and forestry, combined with an increasing global population growth from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.8 billion in 2020 along with rising obesity rates since the 1980s. The current Covid-19 pandemic has caused some decline in greenhouse gas emissions by limiting mobility globally via repetitive lockdowns. Following multiple lockdowns, there was further increase in obesity in wealthier populations, malnutrition from hunger in poor populations and death from severe infection with Covid-19 and its virus variants. There is a bidirectional relationship between adiposity and global warming. With rising atmospheric air temperatures, people typically will have less adaptive thermogenesis and become less physically active, while they are producing a higher carbon footprint. To reduce obesity rates, one should be willing to learn more about the environmental impact, how to minimize consumption of energy generating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, and to reduce food waste. Diets lower in meat such as a Mediterranean diet, have been estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 72%, land use by 58%, and energy consumption by 52%.

SARS-CoV-2, Zika viruses and mycoplasma: Structure, pathogenesis and some treatment options in these emerging viral and bacterial infectious diseases.

The molecular evolution of life on earth along with changing environmental, conditions has rendered mankind susceptible to endemic and pandemic emerging infectious diseases. The effects of certain systemic viral and bacterial infections on morbidity and mortality are considered as examples of recent emerging infections. Here we will focus on three examples of infections that are important in pregnancy and early childhood: SARS-CoV-2 virus, Zika virus, and Mycoplasma species. The basic structural characteristics of these infectious agents will be examined, along with their general pathogenic mechanisms. Coronavirus infections, such as caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, likely evolved from zoonotic bat viruses to infect humans and cause a pandemic that has been the biggest challenge for humanity since the Spanish Flu pandemic of the early 20th century. In contrast, Zika Virus infections represent an expanding infectious threat in the context of global climate change. The relationship of these infections to pregnancy, the vertical transmission and neurological sequels make these viruses highly relevant to the topics of this special issue. Finally, mycoplasmal infections have been present before mankind evolved, but they were rarely identified as human pathogens until recently, and they are now recognized as important coinfections that are able to modify the course and prognosis of various infectious diseases and other chronic illnesses. The infectious processes caused by these intracellular microorganisms are examined as well as some general aspects of their pathogeneses, clinical presentations, and diagnoses. We will finally consider examples of treatments that have been used to reduce morbidity and mortality of these infections and discuss briefly the current status of vaccines, in particular, against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is important to understand some of the basic features of these emerging infectious diseases and the pathogens involved in order to better appreciate the contributions of this special issue on how infectious diseases can affect human pregnancy, fetuses and neonates.