[Epidemic constitution: old and new theories and practices in epidemiology]

The article analyzes the importance of the concept of epidemic constitution, whose presence has been recurrently identified in Hippocratic thinking throughout the history of epidemiology. In general terms, constitution relates epidemics to geographic and atmospheric conditions. The outstanding point in the article is the view of epidemics as phenomena associated to disruption in the harmony of nature, here understood as a whole beyond geographic dimensions. The permanence of Hippocratic thinking does not imply continuity. The concept of epidemic constitution has been discontinuous and structurally different throughout history. The power of the concept lies on its philosophical foundations: physis. Pre-Socratic ideas gain special significance for the understanding of the crisis of modern times and introduces new elements for the interpretation and conceptualization of constitution in epidemiology.