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.
US soldiers with influenza at Aix-Les-Bains in France in 1918.
U.S. Army photographer via Wikimedia Commons
PODCAST: The third part of a series from The Anthill Podcast on how the world recovered from major crises throughout history focuses on the recovery after 1918.
These kids learned about staying healthy in schools around the time of the 1918 pandemic.
Cornell University Library
People have lived with infectious disease throughout the millennia, with culture and biology influencing each other. Archaeologists decode the stories told by bones and what accompanies them.
The World Health Organization estimates that 117 million people worldwide may have missed a vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Shutterstock))
Children may have fallen behind on their vaccination schedules during the pandemic, increasing the risk that COVID-19 may be followed by outbreaks of once-eradicated diseases.
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
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.
Cremation on the banks of the Ganges river, India.
Keystone-France via Getty Images
When the 1918 influenza pandemic struck India, the death toll was highest among the poor.
Inscriptions on the Stanley Cup shows no winner was declared in 1919 when the final series between Montréal and Seattle was cancelled because of the flu pandemic.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The Stanley Cup hockey finals were cancelled mid-series in 1919 because of the flu pandemic. Unlike a century ago, the NHL has put player health ahead of profit when dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Big Texan restaurant, Amarillo, Texas.
Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress
COVID-19 has now been confirmed in New Zealand in one case, but as yet, there is no evidence of transmission to others. Pandemic planning is focused on keeping the novel coronavirus out.
Coronavirus seems to be on a collision course with the US economy and its 12-year bull market.
AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
An economist explains how a virus like COVID-19 could disrupt the US economy – and why it’s too soon to freak out just yet.
Commuters jam a Toronto subway platform. Widespread adoption of habits that help prevent infection may boost behavioural herd immunity.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy
Large-scale adoption of simple, individual actions — like disinfecting our germ-laden phone screens — can limit the ability of COVID-19 to get a foothold.
Did mass graves in the influenza pandemic help give rise to the living dead?
Tithi Luadthong/Shutterstock.com
The flu shot is most effective if you receive it by the end of October. With 80,000 deaths from flu during last year’s flu season, a doctor explains why you should act now.
People and animals live side by side – and can have pathogens in common.
Nichola Hill
No one then knew a virus caused the 1918 flu pandemic, much less that animals can be a reservoir for human illnesses. Now virus ecology research and surveillance are key for public health efforts.
An injectable flu vaccination. Flu vaccines lessen the likelihood of getting the flu and its severity.
Flickr/
The 1918 flu pandemic has long puzzled those who study disease outbreaks. Why was it so severe? While that question is hard to answer, one thing is certain: Vaccines would have lessened the toll.
It can be difficult to find records from epidemics long past.
U.S. National Library of Medicine
With many men ‘missing’ from the population in the aftermath of the 1918 flu, women stepped into public roles that hadn’t previously been open to them.
A CDC scientist measures the amount of H7N9 avian flu virus grown in a lab.
James Gathany/CDC/Handout via REUTERS
Science has come a long way in the 100 years since the worst flu pandemic in history. But that doesn’t mean that the country is ready for another health disaster.
Associate Dean For Global One Health, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; and Director, Pandemic and Biosecurity Policy Program, Scowcroft Institute for International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University