Morens DM, Taubenberger JK, Fauci AS. A Centenary Tale of Two Pandemics: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and COVID-19, Part I.
Am J Public Health 2021;
111:1086-1094. [PMID:
33950739 PMCID:
PMC8101587 DOI:
10.2105/ajph.2021.306310]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
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.
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