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Flu: Past and Present
Author(s) -
Dehner George
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
history compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1478-0542
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2007.00397.x
Subject(s) - pandemic , infectious disease (medical specialty) , population , unintended consequences , exploit , world population , covid-19 , disease , global population , medicine , environmental health , computer security , political science , computer science , law , pathology
The interaction of humans and epidemic diseases is as old as the human story and the human population remains firmly linked with the natural world. In the twentieth century, influenza pandemics illustrate the impact of infectious diseases despite continuing efforts to safeguard the human population, and serve to illustrate the unintended effects of an interconnected world. The influenza virus – highly infectious and transmissible – is a disease that readily exploits global connections, and despite intense study on the virus and methods to protect the population, the virus remains a pandemic threat. Changing patterns of living arrangements, food production, commerce, and travel have created new opportunities for old and new pathogens alike. Human populations will continue to face challenges from infectious organisms for the foreseeable future.