Editorial [The Synapse : the medical professionals' network : issue 01/10]

Abstract

'O wonder. How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world! That has such people in't!' This is how I wish to start the first editorial for this decade... Miranda'a speech in Shakespeare's The Tempest, quoted ad verbatim by John the Savage in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Both characters are naive to the reality behind a vision, a vision which they did not know or understand. And indeed we are experiencing a Brave New World! We are seeing the world's population being vaccinated against a virus which has reportedly already mutated. This herd immunity may be spurred by reports, even locally, that presumably healthy people are dying because of this flu.