Chapter 2: Health Transition and Chapter 3: Monkey Kidneys and the Ebbing Tides Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 2, Garrett discusses the transition in health care following the introduction of antibiotics. Discovered in the 1940s, these drugs were growing in potency and use, and with the polio vaccinations of the 50s, the health care profession began discussing the eradication of infectious disease. The Health Transition was developed, which implied that as nations moved out of poverty, pharmaceuticals could be used to eradicate disease. Yet some researchers in the field were beginning to understand RNA and DNA, and the ability of infectious viruses to mutate. Also, some bacteria was becoming antibiotic resistant. The study of parasites and tropical disease was also waning, because in post WWII health care, there was a shift to eradicate microbes from the planet. In...