Emerging Infectious Disease ISSN: 1080-6059

It Can’t Happen Here

Another Dimension
Acknowledgment

Marcela Natiello

Author affiliation: Hospital “F. J. Muñiz,” Buenos Aires, Argentina

A banal virosis, no doubt

Fever fades away, back at work

I feel weary, I’ll be all right, I’m sure

What, now? My body itches

Could this be an allergy?

A pill to halt the itching

Again ill, what does this nausea mean?

Could this be dengue?

It’s on the borders, the global warming …

And yet, I didn’t leave the city

In Buenos Aires you can’t …

Just in case, I have a test done

I can’t believe it, the test is positive

Spread the news, could be more cases,

— Needs confirmation, it can’t happen here

Why not? Imported cases, Aedes thriving …

There must be others, we must warn people

— We are not sure, can’t happen here

At last, new test confirms. You must warn people

Not even now? What about the others?

Those who don’t know, they are at risk

— It won’t spread, can’t happen here

As a physician I feel responsible

Please spread the news

It did happen here!

Dr Natiello is the patient referred to in this poem and a pneumonologist at the Muñiz Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her primary research interest is the epidemiology of tuberculosis.

Acknowledgment

I thank Dr. Viviana Ritacco and Mrs. Liliana Palumbo for reviewing the manuscript.

DOI: 10.3201/eid1501.AD1501

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Marcela Natiello, Uspallata 2272, (1282) Buenos Aires, Argentina;

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