Clinical evidence that the pandemic from 1889 to 1891 commonly called the Russian flu might have been an earlier coronavirus pandemic

Abstract

Contemporary medical reports from Britain and Germany on patients suffering from a pandemic infection between 1889 and 1891, which was historically referred to as the Russian flu, share a number of characteristics with COVID-19. Most notable are aspects of multisystem affections comprising respiratory, gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms including loss of taste and smell perception; a protracted recovery resembling long covid and pathology observations of thrombosis in multiple organs, inflammation and rheumatic affections. As in COVID-19 and unlike in influenza, mortality was seen in elderly subjects while children were only weakly affected. Contemporary reports noted trans-species infection between pet animals or horses and humans, which would concur with a cross-infection by a broad host range bovine coronavirus dated by molecular clock arguments to an about 1890 crossspecies infection event.Are we at a turning point of the COVID-19 pandemic, with case numbers decreasing in countries where vaccination is increasing, or have we still not reached the peak of the pandemic yet? How many infection waves will we still see and what will the future of the SARS-CoV-2 virus be? Will it disappear or become endemic? It is difficult to give answers to these questions. Mathematical models provide some predictions, but some basic parameters are still so poorly defined or constrained by

What we can learn from the dynamics of the 1889 ‘Russian flu’ pandemic for the future trajectory of COVID‐19

“…The meeting report also mentions the observation of anosmia (loss of smell), diabetes after influenza infections and post‐influenza sequels of nervous disorder. This symptom complex is indeed similar to the clinical symptoms described for influenza patients from 1889 to 1890 in comprehensive British and German reports (Brüssow and Brüssow, 2021 ). Since these observations resemble more a COVID‐19 related disease than classical influenza, we must consider the possibility of a coronavirus‐induced pandemic in 1889–1890 and a resurgence of this pandemic 10 years later, peaking in 1900.…”

“…It is so far conjectural that the 1889 pandemic was caused by a coronavirus infection. That the disease caused by the 1889 pandemic shares some characteristics with COVID-19 with respect to clinical symptoms and epidemiology is better supported by contemporary reports (Br€ ussow and Br€ ussow, 2021). However, even if one accepts this as a working hypothesis, it is by no means clear whether an epidemic with similar basic characteristics will be a replay of one which occurred 140 years ago.…”

“…Interestingly, clinical observations from the pandemic of 1889 commonly called the Russian flu demonstrated characteristics shared with COVID‐19 (namely multiorgan affections comprising respiratory, intestinal and neurological symptoms; taste and smell loss; long recovery periods; sparing of children) (Brüssow and Brüssow, 2021 ). There is also some indirect, albeit weak evidence that the pandemic from 1889 might have been caused by a coronavirus, which today is responsible for a certain percentage of seasonal common cold infections in the winter (Vijgen et al ., 2005 ).…”

Influenza A Viruses and Zoonotic Events—Are We Creating Our Own Reservoirs?

“…It is thus believed that a horse-derived H3N8 was the causative agent of the Russian flu [27]. Others, however, assume that, based on the clinical picture, the pandemic was caused by a zoonotic coronavirus [28,29]. Since the beginning of the 20th century, four major and well-documented IAV pandemics have occurred.…”

Le SARS-CoV-2 : un coronavirus comme les autres ?

“…Ce ne serait pas la première fois que cette évolution serait observée. En effet, des éléments dont l’horloge moléculaire, suggèrent fortement que le saut d’espèce des bovins à l’Homme d’HCoV-OC43 aurait été responsable entre 1889 et 1892 de la pandémie de « grippe » Russe avant de devenir endémique [20] . Au total, sur les 150 dernières années, il y aurait eu 4 passages de coronavirus à l’Homme, dont un serait devenu endémique et un serait sur le point de le devenir.…”