Information dissemination during pandemics: a review on the Spanish Influenza and Covid-19

Background of the study: Information dissemination could be seen as the means through which facts and information are linked to the rightful individual seekers and organizations. Due to restrictions during pandemics, health professionals and other stakeholders have the important role of disseminating information and resources on the pandemic to the public through various media channels available to them. Purpose: This study looked into how information disseminations were carried out during the Spanish Influenza and Covid-19 pandemics based on review of literature Method: Through the use of relevant keywords and search strategies, the study retrieved literature from Google Scholar for review. The literature were then analysed based on themes to produce a narrative report. Findings: The study reveals that information access and dissemination were timely and speedily during the Covid-19 pandemic dur to advancements in technology whereas the dissemination of information during the Spanish Influenza were limited and rarely timely worldwide. Conclusion: Currently, there exist a problem of misinformation and an ‘infodemic.' Due to advancements in information sharing technologies. The study recommends the need to tackle ‘infodemic’ and misinformation during pandemics.

How Economists Ignored the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918–1920

The current Covid-19 pandemic has attracted significant attention from epidemiologists and economists alike. This differs from the 1918–1920 Spanish influenza pandemic, when academic economists hardly paid attention to its economic features, despite its very high death toll. We examine the reasons for that by contrasting the ways epidemiologists and economists reacted to the Spanish flu at the time and shortly after the pandemic. We also explore, but less extensively, some economic and epidemiologic writings during the twenty-five years that followed.

COVID-19 and thyroid diseases: a bidirectional impact

Background COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has become the most lethal and rapidly-moving pandemic since the Spanish influenza of 1918-1920, is associated with thyroid diseases. Methods References were identified through searches of PubMed and MEDLINE for articles published from Jan 1, 2019 to February 19, 2021 by use of the MeSH terms “hypothyroidism”, “hyperthyroidism”, “thyroiditis”, “thyroid cancer”, “thyroid disease”, in combination with the terms “coronavirus” and “COVID-19”. Articles resulting from these searches and references cited in those articles were reviewed. Results Though pre-existing autoimmune thyroid disease appears unlikely to render patients more vulnerable to COVID-19, some reports have documented relapse of Graves’ disease (GD) or newly diagnosed GD about 1 month following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Investigations are ongoing to investigate molecular pathways permitting the virus to trigger GD or cause subacute thyroiditis (SAT). While COVID-19 is associated with non-thyroidal illness, it is not clear whether it also increases the risk of developing autoimmune hypothyroidism. The possibility that thyroid dysfunction may also increase susceptibility for COVID-19 infection deserves further investigation. Recent data illustrate the importance of thyroid hormone in protecting the lungs from injury, including that associated with COVID-19. Conclusions The interaction between the thyroid gland and COVID-19 is complex and bidirectional. COVID-19 infection is associated with triggering of GD and SAT, and possibly hypothyroidism. Until more is understood regarding the impact of coronavirus on the thyroid gland, it seems advisable to monitor patients with COVID-19 for new thyroid disease or progression of pre-existing thyroid disease.

Multiwave pandemic dynamics explained: how to tame the next wave of infectious diseases

Pandemics, like the 1918 Spanish Influenza and COVID-19, spread through regions of the World in subsequent waves. Here we propose a consistent picture of the wave pattern based on the epidemic Renormalisation Group (eRG) framework, which is guided by the global symmetries of the system under time rescaling. We show that the rate of spreading of the disease can be interpreted as a time-dilation symmetry, while the final stage of an epidemic episode corresponds to reaching a time scale-invariant state. We find that the endemic period between two waves is a sign of instability in the system, associated to near-breaking of the time scale-invariance. This phenomenon can be described in terms of an eRG model featuring complex fixed points. Our results demonstrate that the key to control the arrival of the next wave of a pandemic is in the strolling period in between waves, i.e. when the number of infections grows linearly. Thus, limiting the virus diffusion in this period is the most effective way to prevent or delay the arrival of the next wave. In this work we establish a new guiding principle for the formulation of mid-term governmental strategies to curb pandemics and avoid recurrent waves of infections, deleterious in terms of human life loss and economic damage.

Multiwave pandemic dynamics explained: How to tame the next wave of infectious diseases

Pandemics, like the 1918 Spanish Influenza and COVID-19, spread through regions of the World in subsequent waves. Here we propose a consistent picture of the wave pattern based on the epidemic Renormalisation Group (eRG) framework, which is guided by the global symmetries of the system under time rescaling. We show that the rate of spreading of the disease can be interpreted as a time-dilation symmetry, while the final stage of an epidemic episode corresponds to reaching a time scale-invariant state. We find that the endemic period between two waves is a sign of instability in the system, associated to near-breaking of the time scale-invariance. This phenomenon can be described in terms of an eRG model featuring complex fixed points. Our results demonstrate that the key to control the arrival of the next wave of a pandemic is in the strolling period in between waves, i.e. when the number of infections grow linearly. Thus, limiting the virus diffusion in this period is the most effective way to prevent or delay the arrival of the next wave. In this work we establish a new guiding principle for the formulation of mid-term governmental strategies to curb pandemics and avoid recurrent waves of infections, deleterious in terms of human life loss and economic damage.

Kilas-Balik Wabah di Indonesia

This paper aims to determine (1) the events of the Spanish Influenza 1918-1920 pandemic in Indonesia, (2) the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, and (3) a map of the COVID-19 pandemic through the Spanish Influenza1918-1920 in Indonesia. This research uses qualitative methods through literature study techniques. The data obtained were analyzed using the phenomenological theory of Alfert Schurtz. The results of this study indicate if (1) the Spanish Influenza1918 in Indonesia can be categorized through the history, impact, and efforts to overcome the pandemic in Indonesia, (2) the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia can be mapped into three parts (discussion) similar to the Spanish Influenza 1918 in Indonesia, and (3) a map of the COVID-19 pandemic through the Spanish Influenza 1918 in Indonesia. Overall these two pandemic events can be correlated as historical repetitions, that is, between the past and the present. This research is expected to find continuity as a historical fact as well as learning material in the future.