Artículo de revista
Una notable convergencia semántica: infección y miasma
Fecha
2018Registro en:
Rev Chilena Infectol 2018; 35 (1): 75-77
Autor
Osorio Abarzúa, Carlos Gonzalo
Institución
Resumen
The historical development of the terms “infection” and “miasma” is analyzed. Miasma was understood as a kind
of corrupt or pestilent air that emanated from putrefactive bodies and spread infectious diseases. This concept was
the dominant one to understand the cause of infectious diseases from antiquity to the dawn of the microbial theory.
The concept of infection initially had a similar meaning to miasma, but is currently defined as the invasion of a
host by an infectious agent. It will be discussed in this paper that both terms derive from the same original concept.