Origins of the Spanish Influenza pandemic (1918-1920) and its relation to the First World War

Erkoreka, Anton

doi:10.4172/1747-0862.1000033

Cited by 21 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The 20th century witnessed the spread of the Spanish Flu (1918–1919), a pandemic caused by the H1N1 strain of influenza that is most likely spread by soldiers returning home from World War I. 17 , 18 Influenza recurred in the human population with a variety of mutations causing pandemics such as Asian flu (1957–1958) and swine flu in 2009 that together killed more than a million people. 19 , 20 Some of the influenza strains persisted with humanity, causing seasonal influenza, leading to thousands of deaths every year.…”

Section: Covid-19 Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Transmission, Current Treatment, and Future Therapeutic Strategies

et al. 2021

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At the stroke of the New Year 2020, COVID-19, a zoonotic disease that would turn into a global pandemic, was identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Although unique in its transmission and virulence, COVID-19 is similar to zoonotic diseases, including other SARS variants (e.g., SARS-CoV) and MERS, in exhibiting severe flu-like symptoms and acute respiratory distress. Even at the molecular level, many parallels have been identified between SARS and COVID-19 so much so that the COVID-19 virus has been named SARS-CoV-2. These similarities have provided several opportunities to treat COVID-19 patients using clinical approaches that were proven to be effective against SARS. Importantly, the identification of similarities in how SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 access the host, replicate, and trigger life-threatening pathological conditions have revealed opportunities to repurpose drugs that were proven to be effective against SARS. In this article, we first provided an overview of COVID-19 etiology vis-a-vis other zoonotic diseases, particularly SARS and MERS. Then, we summarized the characteristics of droplets/aerosols emitted by COVID-19 patients and how they aid in the transmission of the virus among people. Moreover, we discussed the molecular mechanisms that enable SARS-CoV-2 to access the host and become more contagious than other betacoronaviruses such as SARS-CoV. Further, we outlined various approaches that are currently being employed to diagnose and symptomatically treat COVID-19 in the clinic. Finally, we reviewed various approaches and technologies employed to develop vaccines against COVID-19 and summarized the attempts to repurpose various classes of drugs and novel therapeutic approaches.

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Section: Covid-19 Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Transmission, Current Treatment, and Future Therapeutic Strategies

et al. 2021

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“…Infectious diseases can affect subsequent generations through direct effects on pregnant women or through the effects of long-term morbidity on their future health, reproductive capacity and finances. The Spanish influenza outbreak, which resulted in up to 40 million deaths, is considered to have originated in and been exacerbated by the conditions of the First World War [ 134 , 135 ], and research on prenatal exposure suggests both long-term health costs, such as increased rates of cardiovascular disease and potentially increased disability, and economic penalties [ 136 , 137 ]. More specifically, infection in utero may lead to abortion or congenital malformations, and many infections can trigger premature birth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The intergenerational effects of war on the health of children

Devakumar

Birch²,

Osrin

et al. 2014

BMC Med

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BackgroundThe short- and medium-term effects of conflict on population health are reasonably well documented. Less considered are its consequences across generations and potential harms to the health of children yet to be born.DiscussionLooking first at the nature and effects of exposures during conflict, and then at the potential routes through which harm may propagate within families, we consider the intergenerational effects of four features of conflict: violence, challenges to mental health, infection and malnutrition. Conflict-driven harms are transmitted through a complex permissive environment that includes biological, cultural and economic factors, and feedback loops between sources of harm and weaknesses in individual and societal resilience to them. We discuss the multiplicative effects of ongoing conflict when hostilities are prolonged.SummaryWe summarize many instances in which the effects of war can propagate across generations. We hope that the evidence laid out in the article will stimulate research and – more importantly – contribute to the discussion of the costs of war; particularly in the longer-term in post-conflict situations in which interventions need to be sustained and adapted over many years.

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“…One theory is that the pandemic virus emerged in an American military camp in Kansas and from there the Spanish flu reached the battlefields in Western Europe after the US entered World War I. Others suspect that the virus may have emerged at a large military base on the Western Front, where 100,000 soldiers lived in close proximity to several farms with poultry, geese, and swine, and were frequently exposed to various gases of war causing respiratory irritation and distress [31][32][33]. In any case, it is very likely that World War I contributed to the spread of the virus.…”

Section: Iav Pandemics In Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Kessler

Harder

Schwemmle

et al. 2021

Viruses

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Zoonotic infections of humans with influenza A viruses (IAVs) from animal reservoirs can result in severe disease in individuals and, in rare cases, lead to pandemic outbreaks; this is exemplified by numerous cases of human infection with avian IAVs (AIVs) and the 2009 swine influenza pandemic. In fact, zoonotic transmissions are strongly facilitated by manmade reservoirs that were created through the intensification and industrialization of livestock farming. This can be witnessed by the repeated introduction of IAVs from natural reservoirs of aquatic wild bird metapopulations into swine and poultry, and the accompanied emergence of partially- or fully-adapted human pathogenic viruses. On the other side, human adapted IAV have been (and still are) introduced into livestock by reverse zoonotic transmission. This link to manmade reservoirs was also observed before the 20th century, when horses seemed to have been an important reservoir for IAVs but lost relevance when the populations declined due to increasing industrialization. Therefore, to reduce zoonotic events, it is important to control the spread of IAV within these animal reservoirs, for example with efficient vaccination strategies, but also to critically surveil the different manmade reservoirs to evaluate the emergence of new IAV strains with pandemic potential.

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Origins of the Spanish Influenza pandemic (1918-1920) and its relation to the First World War

Cited by 21 publications

References 17 publications

COVID-19 Transmission, Current Treatment, and Future Therapeutic Strategies

COVID-19 Transmission, Current Treatment, and Future Therapeutic Strategies

The intergenerational effects of war on the health of children

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

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