Abstract

IntroductionCOVID-19 put out many interesting aspects of society's responses to an epidemic. Epidemics have a long-standing history in literature. We want to analyze if society's responses to the epidemic have changed over time, and what literature can teach about the society's reaction to an epidemic.Material and methodsWe searched and discussed the references to the social effects of the epidemic that are provided in three famous works of European literature providing descriptions about society's reactions to an epidemic throughout the centuries have been selected: “The Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio, “The Betrothed” by Alessandro Manzoni, and “The Plague” by Albert Camus.ResultsLiterature teaches us that: the epidemic's spread is often preceded and favoured by a phase of negation or under evaluation of the problem; restrictive measures are the most efficient for containing the virus’ spread; some people have difficulties in being compliant with these measures; infodemia may accompany an epidemic, feeding chaos and fear among the people.ConclusionLooking at examples of epidemics reported in the past, we can conclude that the current COVID-19 pandemic shows that society's responses to an unknown disease are not changed over time.

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