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Articles on H1N1 influenza

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The World Health Organization has declared an end to COVID-19’s status as a public health emergency of international concern. (Shutterstock)

Learning from COVID-19: The global health emergency has ended. Here’s what is needed to prepare for the next one

After previous public health emergencies likes SARS and H1N1, there was renewed investment in pandemic preparedness, but it was not sustained. We cannot make the same mistake after COVID-19.
Countries around the world were not prepared to respond to COVID-19. Andrew Wasike Shimanyula/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Predicting epidemics isn’t easy. We’ve created a global dataset to help

A new global dataset shows there is no clear global increase of infectious disease outbreaks over time. And it can suggest which countries would most likely be affected by an outbreak.
In this November 1918 photo, a nurse tends to a patient in the influenza ward of the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Md. AP Photo/Harris & Ewing via Library of Congress

1918 flu pandemic upended long-standing social inequalities – at least for a time, new study finds

During the 1918 flu pandemic, white people died at similar rates to Black Americans, according to a new study – a very different pattern than what occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patients with overweight or obesity issues make up more than 70% of the U.S. population. Peter Dazeley via Getty Images

Will the COVID-19 vaccine work as well in patients with obesity?

Americans with excess weight and obesity have been hit hard by COVID-19. Now there is reason to believe they may not get the same protection from the vaccines.
Albanian health department workers, wearing protective suits, collect chickens, in the village of Peze Helmes some 20 km from the capital Tirana, 23 March 2006, after the second case of H5N1 bird flu was discovered in Albania. Gent Shkullaku / AFP

The keys to preventing future pandemics

Ever since the 2001 SARS outbreak and H5N1 avian flu in 2003, we’ve developed tools to monitor diseases that transmitted from animals to humans. But what does a large-scale roll-out entail?
Emergency hospital during influenza epidemic at Camp Funston in Kansas around 1918. National Museum of Health and Medicine

5 ways the world is better off dealing with a pandemic now than in 1918

A century ago, the influenza pandemic killed about 50 million people. Today we are battling the coronavirus pandemic. Are we any better off? Two social scientists share five reasons we have to be optimistic.
A pandemic from a century ago doesn’t necessarily chart the course of the pandemic happening now. National Photo Company Collection/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Compare the flu pandemic of 1918 and COVID-19 with caution – the past is not a prediction

Differences in the viruses’ biology and societal contexts mean there’s no guarantee today’s pandemic will mirror the ‘waves’ of infection a century ago.
The pangolin, one of the most poached animals in the world, could have served as an intermediate host in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans. Wahyudi/AFP

Covid-19 or the pandemic of mistreated biodiversity

Covid-19, like other major epidemics, is not unrelated to the biodiversity and climate crisis we are experiencing.
A member of the South African National Defence Force hands out pamphlets informing township residents about COVID-19 in Johannesburg. Kim Ludbrook/EPA-EFE

Can the philosophy of ubuntu help provide a way to face health crises?

Ubuntu provides a language for people to participate in preventive action, even if this involves practices such as lockdowns.

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