For many people, COVID may be the first time you’ve thought about public health beyond things like the existence of vaccines. You may never have known that some diseases have to be reported straightaway to health authorities and that someone calls you if you’ve tested positive. You may never have heard of an epidemiologist or thought that we do something with skin.

Since COVID, though, you’re likely hearing terms like “contact tracing,” “quarantine,” and “isolation” all over the place. You may have heard about PCR testing and serological surveys using antibody testing. It’s possible you’ve even become a bit of an armchair epidemiologist. It might be the first time you’ve heard these words, but they’re far from new to public health. Below I talk a little about some terms you may have heard related to public health and some of their history.