The way we talk about coronavirus matters

The way we talk about disease can actually alter how diseases spread. As medical humanities scholar Heather Schell has said, the practice of epidemiology links statistical analysis and pattern formation with the creation of narratives about the impact disease may have on the world. Interacting as they do with pathogens, these narratives themselves can shape the ebb and flow of pathogens for better or worse, as people change their behaviors in response to epidemiological reporting.