Case reports and their importance in Medical Literature

It is important to appreciate how case reports have paved the way for modern research. They are still largely considered the first line of evidence. Indeed global endemics such as HIV and Zika Virus have been traced back to initial case reports. Strictly speaking; case reports are anecdotes - a factual story telling about nature's own experiment. Case reports can be characterized by two huge advantages, their ability to present novel, rare cases in a manner that can lead to the expansion in research of such cases and their use in generating new, innovative hypothesis that can be used to direct further research. The aim of this article is to identify the place and purpose of case reports in the current research setting with a focus on highlighting its merits and limitation amongst other things.