scholarly journals The Fight Against Enzy: US Libraries During the Influenza Epidemic of 1918

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Lorri Mon

In 2020, a pandemic of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus struck worldwide, rapidly becoming the most devastating since the 1918 global influenza pandemic. As librarians confronted entirely new challenges in how to safely manage libraries during the COVID-19 crisis, a common question was, “what happened in libraries during the 1918 influenza pandemic?” This article explores that question through the lens of government documents and news articles of the 1918-1921 time period, seeking to understand what happened then in libraries nationwide, and what we might learn from it today.

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (08) ◽  
pp. 845-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Munmun Rawat ◽  
Praveen Chandrasekharan ◽  
Mark D. Hicar ◽  
Satyan Lakshminrusimha

One hundred years after the 1918 influenza pandemic, we now face another pandemic with the severe acute respiratory syndrome–novel coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). There is considerable variability in the incidence of infection and severe disease following exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Data from China and the United States suggest a low prevalence of neonates, infants, and children, with those affected not suffering from severe disease. In this article, we speculate different theories why this novel agent is sparing neonates, infants, and young children. The low severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in this population is associated with a high incidence of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infection making them efficient carriers. Key Points


Author(s):  
Markordor Lyngdoh

The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. On the other hand, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus hailed by the world health organization as a “once in a century health crisis” which has led to devastating impacts to health and livelihood the world over. The prevailing situation is reminiscent of the Spanish flu where definitive cure is unavailable and the public health measures like quarantine, social distancing, hand hygiene and isolation are the only alternatives. Both these diseases are transmitted through respiratory droplets, highly contagious and target the respiratory organs. The parallels between these two events cannot be denied. The Spanish flu thrived at a time when the knowledge and availability of antivirals and vaccine development were inadequate. This article strives to highlight a little more on these two separate pandemics and observe their similarities as well as their differences.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Yang ◽  
Xinhua Chen ◽  
Xiaowei Deng ◽  
Zhiyuan Chen ◽  
Hui Gong ◽  
...  

The pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began in Wuhan, China, where a first wave of intense community transmission was cut short by interventions. Using multiple data source, we estimated the disease burden and clinical severity of COVID-19 by age in Wuhan from December 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. We adjusted estimates for sensitivity of laboratory assays and accounted for prospective community screenings and healthcare seeking behaviors. Rates of symptomatic cases, medical consultations, hospitalizations and deaths were estimated at 796 (95%CI: 703-977), 489 (472-509), 370 (358-384), and 36.2 (35.0-37.3) per 100,000 persons, respectively. The COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan had higher burden than the 2009 influenza pandemic or seasonal influenza, and that clinical severity was similar to that of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Our comparison puts the COVID-19 pandemic into context and could be helpful to guide intervention strategies and preparedness for the potential resurgence of COVID-19.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261497
Author(s):  
Ahmad Abu Turab Naqvi ◽  
Farah Anjum ◽  
Alaa Shafie ◽  
Sufian Badar ◽  
Abdelbaset Mohamed Elasbali ◽  
...  

Since the emergence of yellow fever in the Americas and the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic, biologists and clinicians have been drawn to human infecting viruses to understand their mechanisms of infection better and develop effective therapeutics against them. However, the complex molecular and cellular processes that these viruses use to infect and multiply in human cells have been a source of great concern for the scientific community since the discovery of the first human infecting virus. Viral disease outbreaks, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus, have claimed millions of lives and caused significant economic damage worldwide. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of host-virus interaction and the molecular machinery involved in the pathogenesis of some common human viruses. We also performed a phylogenetic analysis of viral proteins involved in host-virus interaction to understand the changes in the sequence organization of these proteins during evolution for various strains of viruses to gain insights into the viral origin’s evolutionary perspectives.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Liliana Elena Weimer ◽  
Liliana Elena Weimer ◽  
Cattari G ◽  
Fanales Belasio E ◽  
Binelli A ◽  
...  

In December 2019, a devastated novel coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the causative agent of the acute atypical cluster of pneumonia cases in the city of Wuhan, China [1]. In February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) named the disease COVID-19. Currently, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is of a scale not seen since the 1918 influenza pandemic and has already infected more than 156 million people worldwide and resulted in 3.2 million deaths, and cancer is a major risk factor for death associated with COVID-19. Although the predominant clinical presentation is with respiratory disease, Human coronaviruses exhibit neuroinvasive potential, and the systemic disorders that are the hallmark of COVID-19, such as hypoxia, inflammation, and acquired thrombophilia, may impose a high risk of CNS complications [2]. However, it is not clear which of these complications are consequences of direct neurological injury of SARS-CoV-2 or events secondary to the systemic dysfunctional state. New information about the neurological entities arising in patients with COVID-19 is needed to delineate better the clinical implications of this disease. We report a case of a patient with Hypoxic Leukoencephalopathy after Cardiocirculatory Arrest in patient SARS-CoV-2 and Severe Interstitial Pneumonia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Yang ◽  
Xinhua Chen ◽  
Xiaowei Deng ◽  
Zhiyuan Chen ◽  
Hui Gong ◽  
...  

Abstract The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first reported in Wuhan, China, where the initial wave of intense community transmissions was cut short by interventions. Using multiple data sources, here we estimate the disease burden and clinical severity by age of COVID-19 in Wuhan from December 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. Our estimates account for the sensitivity of the laboratory assays, prospective community screenings, and healthcare seeking behaviors. Rates of symptomatic cases, medical consultations, hospitalizations and deaths were estimated at 796 (95% CI: 703–977), 489 (472–509), 370 (358–384), and 36.2 (35.0–37.3) per 100,000 persons, respectively. The COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan had a higher burden than the 2009 influenza pandemic or seasonal influenza in terms of hospitalization and mortality rates, and clinical severity was similar to that of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Our comparison puts the COVID-19 pandemic into context and could be helpful to guide intervention strategies and preparedness for the potential resurgence of COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A Talbot ◽  
E Jeffrey Metter ◽  
Heather King

ABSTRACT During World War I, the 1918 influenza pandemic struck the fatigued combat troops serving on the Western Front. Medical treatment options were limited; thus, skilled military nursing care was the primary therapy and the best indicator of patient outcomes. This article examines the military nursing’s role in the care of the soldiers during the 1918 flu pandemic and compares this to the 2019 coronavirus pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 181-200
Author(s):  
David Arnold

ABSTRACTIn India the 1918–19 influenza pandemic cost at least twelve million lives, more than in any other country; it caused widespread suffering and disrupted the economy and infrastructure. Yet, despite this, and in contrast to the growing literature on recovering the ‘forgotten’ pandemic in other countries, remarkably little was recorded about the epidemic in India at the time or has appeared in the subsequent historiography. An absence of visual evidence is indicative of a more general paucity of contemporary material and first-hand testimony. In seeking to explain this absence, it is argued that, while India was exposed to influenza as a global event and to the effects of its involvement in the Great War, the influenza episode needs to be more fully understood in terms of local conditions. The impact of the disease was overshadowed by the prior encounter with bubonic plague, by military recruitment and the war, and by food shortages and price rises that pushed India to the brink of famine. Subsumed within a dominant narrative of political unrest and economic discontent, the epidemic found scant expression in official documentation, public debate and/or even private correspondence.


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