It’s the disease that ravages respiratory systems, and hobbles
economies. SARS, the mysterious virus that’s infected nearly
5000 people, so far, has cleared out airports, offices, and
discos in China, and Toronto isn’t fairing much better. Although
the World Health Organization is hot on the case, don’t expect a
cure or vaccine anytime soon. Despite advances in medical
technology, health officials are still battling the last bug,
and losing, so says one professor of medical history. Cancer and
heart disease, let alone the 1918 influenza epidemic, still have
experts searching for a diagnosis. Our faith in medicine is
misplaced, he argues. Its role isn’t to conquer illness but make
it more tolerable. Gerald N. Grob, Professor of The History of
Medicine Emeritus at Rutgers University, and author of “The
Deadly Truth: A History of Disease in America.”