01326nas a2200157   4500000000100000008004100001260006300042653002200105653001800127100002100145245002500166300001400191490000800205520093000213022002501143       2020                            d  bAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)10aMultidisciplinary10aSocial stigma1 aChandrashekhar V00aThe burden of stigma  a1419-14230 v3693 aAfter Mumbai dentist Azmera Shaikh and her mother tested positive for COVID-19, their neighbors ostracized the rest of her family, refusing to let them put out garbage or help them buy groceries. As the new coronavirus spread around the world early this year, some people around the world responded in similar ways. In Nepal, health workers were thrown out of accommodations. In Chennai, India, some doctors avoided getting tested to avoid trouble with neighbors. Such responses would have been familiar to our ancestors. From ancient times, humans have feared disease and shunned those thought to have it. But today, those old responses can undermine public health efforts. Stigma encourages people to hide illness and avoid treatment, and it intensifies patient stress and reinforces inequality. The history of past epidemics, from leprosy and cholera to HIV, shows the hidden burden of stigma on individuals and societies.  a0036-8075, 1095-9203