Quarantine and Isolation
In many situations involving public health emergencies, quarantine and isolation have
been viewed as the immediate solutions to contain a disease. Quarantine and isolation
are two different terms. The word quarante means 40 in Italian. During the days of the plague, ships were forced to anchor for 40 days at the port of Venice. “Quarantine”
means physical separation of healthy individuals who have been exposed to a
contagious disease. “Isolation” is defined as segregation and confinement of infected
individuals from others who are known to be suffering from disease. Cholera, the
plague, and other diseases that caused deaths on a large scale led to the idea of such
preventive action. These actions can effectively interrupt the disease transmission
chain, also offering the opportunity to treat infected individuals. From the information
obtained from quarantined individuals, contact tracing can also be initiated. In
Cuba from 1986 to 1994, HIV-positive individuals were quarantined. Quarantine
does not work to reduce the incidence of a disease not transmitted through regular
contact.
Not so long ago, sanatoria were set up for patients with tuberculosis, known as
the “great white plague.” The number of sanatoria declined with time as the incidence
of tuberculosis declined. However, because of the reemergence of other diseases,
the need for special facilities dedicated to housing those infected with one
disease is growing. In Canada during the epidemic period of severe acute respiratory
syndrome (aka SARS), almost 14,000 individuals were isolated. Such isolations can
cause frustration in healthcare workers and also in quarantined individuals, restricting
the movement of an individual, affecting one’s employment status, and potentially
imposing a psychosocial burden on society (Cava, 2005). To deal with such issues,
strategies for emotional responses should be designed. Isolation can, however, save
money and lives