Which Saint to pray for fighting against a Covid infection? A short survey

International audienceBackground: In the absence of a treatment still considered universally effective, and of a vaccine validated by the health authorities, we wanted to know which Catholic saint the European Christian community turned to in the event of infection with Covid-19 to request a miraculous healing. Methodology: An online survey was carried out on a sample of 1158 adults using social media tools. Results: All results are presented in this research, with a few saints in the majority, and some dictated by the symptomatology of the Covid-19 infection or the personalities of certain « doctor guru ». Conclusion: This medico-anthropological study is revealing the psychology of Western patients vis-à-vis the magic-religious means used in the fight against diseases, particularly in the epidemic/pandemic context

Saint Roch and Social Distancing During Pandemics: Lessons to be Remembered

International audienceSurprisingly, Catholic hagiography can teach us a lot about medicine. As an example, we present here the history of Saint Roch who is considered, along with Saint Sebastian, one of the two main Saints who act as protectors against plagues and have often been invoked by Catholic people during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas Saint Sebastian is associated with plagues only symbolically, Catholic tradition considers Saint Roch to have had real contact with the bubonic plague. Indeed, during his pilgrimage to Rome, Saint Roch helped people suffering from the plague and was, subsequently, himself infected. He was then forced to retire in solitary confinement to avoid the plague’s spread and followed scrupulously the necessary restrictive measures. Saint Roch’s story provides useful lessons about the importance of social responsibility by respecting the restrictive rules during difficult times such as the COVID-19 epidemic

Marcel Proust's contacts with neurology. Did mistrust in doctors lead him to refuse life-saving therapies?

The French novelist Marcel Proust (1871–1922) died of complicated bronchopneumonia on November 18, 1922 [1]. His housekeeper recounted that the writer refused treatment and further investigations suggested by his general practitioner, stating that “it was useless to prolong a life so infamous” [1]. Here, we attempt to analyze the causes of Proust's choice to refuse the treatment