Open AccessA Centenary Tale of Two Pandemics: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and COVID-19, Part I
Author(s) -
David M. Morens,
Jeffery K. Taubenberger,
Anthony S. Fauci
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2021.306310
Subject(s) - pandemic , covid-19 , influenza pandemic , public health , epidemiology , human mortality from h5n1 , virology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , environmental health , history , medicine , outbreak , pathology
Separated by a century, the influenza pandemic of 1918 and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019-2021 are among the most disastrous infectious disease emergences of modern times. Although caused by unrelated viruses, the two pandemics are nevertheless similar in their clinical, pathological, and epidemiological features, and in the civic, public health, and medical responses to combat them. Comparing and contrasting the two pandemics, we consider what lessons we have learned over the span of a century and how we are applying those lessons to the challenges of COVID-19.