To End an Epidemic

ONE hundred years ago, diphtheria was predicted to be "the scourge of America in the future."1 Although this prediction was realized, diphtheria has since become only a chapter in the history of American public health, and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has emerged as the scourge of the future. Every epidemic disease is in some ways unique, but none is wholly so, and the history of diphtheria may be relevant today.Diphtheria was the first infectious disease to be conquered on the basis of the principles of microbiology and public health. It emerged as a threat at a time when . . .