RESUMEN
Surprisingly, the 1977 "Russian flu" H1N1 pandemic influenza virus was genetically indistinguishable from strains that had circulated decades earlier but had gone extinct in 1957. This essay puts forward the most plausible chronology to explain the reemergence of the 1977 H1N1 pandemic virus: (1) in January-February 1976, a self-limited small outbreak of a swine H1N1 influenza virus occurred among Army personnel at Fort Dix, New Jersey; (2) in March 1976, the US launched a nationwide H1N1 swine influenza vaccine program; (3) other countries then also launched their own H1N1 R&D efforts; (4) a new H1N1 outbreak, genetically unrelated to the Fort Dix swine virus but indistinguishable from previously extinct H1N1 viruses, was detected early in 1977 in China; (5) the leading Chinese influenza virologist later disclosed that the Chinese military had conducted large H1N1 vaccine R&D studies in 1976. It is likely that the resurrected H1N1 influenza viruses were laboratory-stored strains that were unfrozen and studied as part of the emergency response to a perceived epidemic threat, and that accidentally escaped. The fear of a possible H1N1 pandemic was the critical factor that gave rise to the actual H1N1 pandemic, resulting in an avoidable "self-fulfilling prophecy pandemic."
Asunto(s)
Subtipo H1N1 del Virus de la Influenza A , Vacunas contra la Influenza , Gripe Humana , Pandemias , Humanos , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Gripe Humana/virología , Historia del Siglo XX , Estados Unidos/epidemiología , China/epidemiología , Personal Militar , New Jersey/epidemiología , AnimalesRESUMEN
Leveraging the simplicity of nucleotide mismatch distributions, we provide an intuitive window into the evolution of the human influenza A 'nonstructural' (NS) gene segment. In an analysis suggested by the eminent Danish biologist Freddy B. Christiansen, we illustrate the existence of a continuous genetic "backbone" of influenza A NS sequences, steadily increasing in nucleotide distance to the 1918 root over more than a century. The 2009 influenza A/H1N1 pandemic represents a clear departure from this enduring genetic backbone. Utilizing nucleotide distance maps and phylogenetic analyses, we illustrate remaining uncertainties regarding the origin of the 2009 pandemic, highlighting the complexity of influenza evolution. The NS segment is interesting precisely because it experiences less pervasive positive selection, and departs less strongly from neutral evolution than e.g. the HA antigen. Consequently, sudden deviations from neutral diversification can indicate changes in other genes via the hitchhiking effect. Our approach employs two measures based on nucleotide mismatch counts to analyze the evolutionary dynamics of the NS gene segment. The rooted Hamming map of distances between a reference sequence and all other sequences over time, and the unrooted temporal Hamming distribution which captures the distribution of genotypic distances between simultaneously circulating viruses, thereby revealing patterns of nucleotide diversity and epi-evolutionary dynamics.
Asunto(s)
Evolución Molecular , Gripe Humana , Filogenia , Humanos , Gripe Humana/virología , Gripe Humana/historia , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Subtipo H1N1 del Virus de la Influenza A/genética , Virus de la Influenza A/genéticaRESUMEN
On the basis of historical influenza and COVID-19 forecasts, we found that more than 3 forecast models are needed to ensure robust ensemble accuracy. Additional models can improve ensemble performance, but with diminishing accuracy returns. This understanding will assist with the design of current and future collaborative infectious disease forecasting efforts.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19 , Brotes de Enfermedades , Predicción , Gripe Humana , SARS-CoV-2 , Humanos , COVID-19/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Modelos Estadísticos , Modelos EpidemiológicosRESUMEN
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been called the deadliest disease event in history. In this study, we compared the cause-specific mortality rate of the Spanish flu (1918-1920) with that of COVID-19 (2020-2022) in the Netherlands. During the periods of exposure, about 50 000 people died of COVID-19 and 32 000 people of the Spanish flu. In absolute numbers, COVID-19 seems to be deadlier than Spanish flu. However, the crude mortality rates for COVID-19 and Spanish flu were 287 and 486 per 100 000 inhabitants, respectively. Comparing age-standardized mortality rates, there would have been 28 COVID-19- and 194 Spanish flu-related deaths in 1918-1920, or 214 Spanish flu- and 98 COVID-19-related deaths in 2020-2022 per 100 000 inhabitants per year. Thus, taking the population differences into account, the Spanish flu would have been deadlier than COVID-19.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19 , Influenza Pandémica, 1918-1919 , Gripe Humana , Humanos , Países Bajos/epidemiología , COVID-19/mortalidad , COVID-19/epidemiología , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXI , Persona de Mediana Edad , Anciano , Adulto , Influenza Pandémica, 1918-1919/mortalidad , Influenza Pandémica, 1918-1919/historia , Masculino , Gripe Humana/mortalidad , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Femenino , SARS-CoV-2 , Adolescente , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Adulto Joven , Niño , Lactante , Preescolar , Pandemias/historiaRESUMEN
This paper examines the timing of one-time fluctuations in births subsequent to the 1918 influenza pandemic in Madras (now Chennai), India. After seasonally decomposing key demographic aggregates, we identified abrupt one-time fluctuations in excess births, deaths, and infant deaths. We found a contemporaneous spike in excess deaths and infant deaths and a 40-week lag between the spike in deaths and a subsequent deficit in births. The results suggest that India experienced the same kind of short-term postpandemic "baby bust" that was observed in the United States and other countries. Identifying the mechanisms underlying this widespread phenomenon remains an open question and an important topic for future research.
Asunto(s)
Gripe Humana , India/epidemiología , Humanos , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/mortalidad , Gripe Humana/historia , Historia del Siglo XX , Pandemias/historia , Lactante , Femenino , Recién Nacido , Tasa de NatalidadRESUMEN
This paper examines the supply and utilization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Hong Kong during the influenza epidemics of the 1950s and 1960s. Existing narratives of TCM in Hong Kong have predominantly framed with within the dichotomy of Western medicine "Xiyi" and Chinese medicine "Zhongyi," portraying TCM as marginalized and nearly wiped out by colonial power. Departing from this binary opposition, this study views TCM as an autonomous space that had never been subjugated by the colonial power which opted for minimal interventionist approach toward TCM. By adopting diachronic and synchronic perspectives on Hong Kong's unique environment shaped by its colonial history and the geopolitics of the Cold War in East Asia, particularly its relationships with "China," this research seeks to reassess the role and status of TCM in post-World War II Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, along with other countries in East Asia, traditional medicine has ceded its position as mainstream medicine to Western medicine. Faced with the crisis of "extinction," Chinese medical professionals, including medical practitioners and merchant groups, persistently sought solidarity and "self-renewal." In the 1950s and 1960s, the colonial authorities heavily relied on private entities, including charity hospitals and clinics; furthermore, there was a lack of provision of public healthcare and official prevention measures against the epidemic influenza. As such, it is not surprising that the Chinese utilized TCM, along with Western medicine, to contain the epidemics which brought about an explosive surge in the number of patients from novel influenza viruses. TCM was significantly consumed during these explosive outbreaks of influenza in 1957 and 1968. In making this argument, this paper firstly provides an overview of the associations of Chinese medical practitioners and merchants who were crucial to the development of TCM in Hong Kong. Secondly, it analyzes one level of active provision and consumption of Chinese medicine during the two flu epidemics, focusing on the medical practices of TCM practitioners in the 1957 epidemic. While recognizing the etiologic agent or agents of the disease as influenza viruses, the group of Chinese medical practitioners of the Chinese Medical Society in Hong Kong adopted the basic principles of traditional medicine regarding influenza, such as Shanghanlun and Wenbingxue, to distinguish the disease status among patients and prescribe medicine according to correct diagnoses, which were effective. Thirdly, this paper examines the level of folk culture among the people, who utilized famous prescriptions of Chinese herbal medicine and alimentotherapy, in addition to Chinese patent medicines imported from mainland China. In the context of regional commercial network, this section also demonstrates how Hong Kong served as a sole exporting port of medicinal materials (e.g., Chinese herbs) and Chinese patent medicines from the People's Republic of China to capitalist markets, including Hong Kong, under the socialist planned or controlled economy in the 1950s and 1960s. It was not only the efficacy of TCM in restoring immunity and alleviating symptoms of the human body, but also the voluntary efforts of these Chinese medical practitioners who sought to defend national medicine "Guoyi," positioning it as complementary and alternative medicine to scientific medicine. Additionally, merchants who imported and distributed Chinese medicinal materials and national "Guochan" Chinese patent medicine played a crucial role, as did the people who utilized Chinese medicine, all of which contributed to making TCM thrive in colonial Hong Kong.
Asunto(s)
Epidemias , Gripe Humana , Medicina Tradicional China , Medicina Tradicional China/historia , Historia del Siglo XX , Gripe Humana/historia , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Hong Kong/epidemiología , Humanos , Epidemias/historia , Colonialismo/historiaAsunto(s)
COVID-19 , Gripe Humana , Humanos , Italia/epidemiología , COVID-19/mortalidad , COVID-19/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/mortalidad , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Gripe Humana/virología , SARS-CoV-2 , Historia del Siglo XX , Influenza Pandémica, 1918-1919/mortalidad , Influenza Pandémica, 1918-1919/historia , Historia del Siglo XXIRESUMEN
Estimating the lethal impact of a pandemic on a religious community with significant barriers to outsiders can be exceedingly difficult. Nevertheless, Stein and colleagues (2021) developed an innovative means of arriving at such an estimate for the lethal impact of COVID-19 on the Amish community in 2020 by counting user-generated death reports in the widely circulated Amish periodical The Budget. By comparing monthly averages of reported deaths before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stein and colleagues were able to arrive at a rough estimate of "excess deaths" during the first year of the pandemic. Our research extends the same research method, applying it to the years during and immediately preceding the global influenza pandemic of 1918. Results show similarly robust findings, including three notable "waves" of excess deaths among Amish and conservative Mennonites in the USA in 1918, 1919, and 1920. Such results point to the promise of utilizing religious periodicals like The Budget as a relatively untapped trove of user-generated data on public health outcomes among religious minorities more than a century in the past.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19 , Gripe Humana , Humanos , Pandemias , Amish , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Grupos MinoritariosRESUMEN
Resumo O artigo analisa as reações dos católicos vinculados às associações leigas na cidade do Salvador, no período da gripe espanhola (1918) e da varíola (1919). Os jornais foram as principais fontes utilizadas para a identificação das festas e dos ritos, tanto dos praticados para pedir a intercessão dos santos quanto daqueles que foram suspensos em função da necessidade de isolamento social. Apesar de ambas as doenças serem transmissíveis e do curto espaço de tempo entre as duas epidemias, a análise das fontes evidenciou diferentes reações dos fiéis quanto às medidas de proteção e busca da cura.
Abstract This article analyzes the reactions of Catholics linked to lay associations in the city of Salvador, in the period of the Spanish flu (1918) and smallpox (1919). Newspapers were the main sources used to identify the festivals and rites, both those practiced to ask for the intercession of the saints, and those that were suspended due to the need for social isolation. In spite of both diseases being transmissible and the short interval between the two epidemics, the analysis of the sources showed different reactions from the faithful regarding the measures of protection and the search for a cure.
Asunto(s)
Viruela/historia , Catolicismo , Curación por la Fe , Gripe Humana/historia , Epidemias/historia , Religión y Medicina , Brasil , Historia del Siglo XXRESUMEN
Este trabalho trata da gripe em Portugal, dando particular destaque à gripe russa. Não será abordada a gripe espanhola, dada a profusão de estudos já publicados nos últimos anos sobre esta pandemia. O nosso objetivo consiste em mostrar a antiguidade da doença em Portugal, bem como a sua recorrência ao longo dos séculos, incluindo na contemporaneidade, quando a gripe alcançou maior incidência. Os periódicos e as publicações médicas são a principal base do nosso trabalho, que pretende ser um contributo para o estudo de uma doença que não tem merecido a atenção que, decerto, é devida, designadamente da parte da História.(AU)
This work deals with influenza in Portugal, with particular emphasis on the Russian flu. The Spanish flu will not be addressed, given the profusion of studies already published in recent years on this pandemic. Our objective is to show the antiquity of the disease in Portugal, as well as its recurrence over the centuries, including in contemporary times, when the flu reached a higher incidence. Medical journals and publications are the main basis of our work, which aims to be a contribution to the study of a disease Grathat has not received the attention it certainly deserves, namely from the part of History.(AU)
Asunto(s)
Humanos , Masculino , Femenino , Gripe Humana/historia , Gripe Humana/clasificación , PortugalRESUMEN
Abstract Brazil has experienced several major epidemics of influenza, and the most destructive was in 1918-1919. This article focuses on mortality, mitigation policies, and the consequences of pandemic influenza during the national period. We provide the first mortality estimates for the 1890-1894 influenza pandemic and correct figures for later epidemics. The 1918-1919 episode cost more lives than assumed, although some cities suffered less, possibly because of public health actions. Influenza caused pandemics in 1957, 1968, 1976, and 2009, but these did not cause unusual outbreaks in Brazil.
Resumo O Brasil passou por várias epidemias importantes de influenza, a mais letal em 1918-1919. O artigo focaliza a mortalidade, as políticas de mitigação e as consequências das pandemias de influenza no período nacional. Fornecemos as primeiras estimativas de mortalidade para a pandemia de 1890-1894 e corrigimos números de epidemias posteriores. O episódio de 1918-1919 custou mais vidas do que se considerou anteriormente, embora algumas cidades tenham sofrido menos, possivelmente devido a ações de saúde pública. A influenza gerou pandemias em 1957, 1968, 1976 e 2009, mas elas não causaram surtos incomuns no Brasil.
Asunto(s)
Salud Pública , Mortalidad , Planificación en Desastres , Gripe Humana/historia , Pandemias/historia , Historia del Siglo XX , COVID-19RESUMEN
In standard historical accounts, the hyperlethal 1918 flu pandemic was inevitable once a novel influenza virus appeared. However, in the years following the pandemic, it was obvious to distinguished flu experts from around the world that social and environmental conditions interacted with infectious agents and could enhance the virulence of flu germs. On the basis of the timing and geographic pattern of the pandemic, they hypothesized that an "essential cause" of the pandemic's extraordinary lethality was the extreme, prolonged, and industrial-scale overcrowding of US soldiers in World War I, particularly on troopships. This literature synthesis considers research from history, public health, military medicine, veterinary science, molecular genetics, virology, immunology, and epidemiology. Arguments against the hypothesis do not provide disconfirming evidence. Overall, the findings are consistent with an immunologically similar virus varying in virulence in response to war-related conditions. The enhancement-of-virulence hypothesis deserves to be included in the history of the pandemic and the war. These lost lessons of 1918 point to possibilities for blocking the transformation of innocuous infections into deadly disasters and are relevant beyond influenza for diseases like COVID-19. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(10):1454-1464. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306976).
Asunto(s)
COVID-19 , Gripe Humana , Humanos , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Gripe Humana/prevención & control , Pandemias/historia , Pandemias/prevención & control , Salud Pública , Primera Guerra MundialRESUMEN
For several decades, the 1918-20 global influenza outbreak has been called "the forgotten pandemic." Although recent scholarly and public interest in the pandemic has complicated the narrative of forgetting, the label has stuck. Highlighting historical evidence of influenza's long-term impact upon survivors, family, and community in Canada, the flu stories presented here, diverse in form and content, verify that a key question in pandemic influenza history is not whether the pandemic was forgotten or remembered, but by whom, and in what ways, it has been suppressed - or foregrounded. By moving beyond the classic epidemic plot line, with beginning, middle, and end, historians can find new methodologies and evidence with which to more fully understand the influenza pandemic's unfolding intersection with colonialism, war, social inequality, and labour struggles in the 20th century.
Asunto(s)
Gripe Humana , Trabajo de Parto , Canadá/epidemiología , Brotes de Enfermedades/historia , Femenino , Humanos , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Pandemias/historia , EmbarazoRESUMEN
In the last year of the Great War, Italy was also hit by the Spanish flu. The Civic Hospitals faced a deadly disaster with insufficient resources. All the heavy workload fell on the female nursing staff, who were the only ones able ensure the continuity of the hospital services. This study aimed to explore the impact of the influenza on the health of the nurses at the Maggiore Hospital in Milan during the second and third epidemic waves. Historical research was conducted between February and May 2020. Primary sources were retrieved from the historical archives of the Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico and the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. In the autumn of 1918, the Maggiore Hospital in Milan changed its organization to hospitalise patients affected by the influenza pandemic. Although the hospital managers wanted to protect their healthcare staff from the risks of contagion by means of prophylaxis rules, 388 lay nurses and 80 religious sister nurses were affected by this insidious disease. The second and third waves of the pandemic claimed 25 victims of duty. Remembered for their altruism and spirit of abnegation, the hospital community honoured their sacrifice, and the citizens expressed their gratitude.
Asunto(s)
Influenza Pandémica, 1918-1919 , Gripe Humana , Personal de Enfermería en Hospital , Femenino , Humanos , Historia del Siglo XX , Hospitales , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Gripe Humana/enfermería , Italia/epidemiología , Personal de Enfermería en Hospital/historia , Personal de Enfermería en Hospital/estadística & datos numéricosRESUMEN
During the Russian influenza pandemic, which reached the United States in late 1889, US public health officials attempted to document the number of deaths associated with this disease outbreak. A historical perspective illuminates the complex categories used to classify deaths from influenza-associated diseases; substantial changes in weekly, monthly, and yearly death totals; and thoughtful efforts by health officials to measure the epidemic as it happened. The 1114 influenza deaths reported by the Connecticut State Board of Health in the 3 years after the January 1890 outbreak must be supplemented by the notable increases in the number of deaths from respiratory diseases, which elevates the likely toll to more than 7000 deaths during the epidemic. Whereas historians of public health have primarily examined efforts to control communicable diseases, this case study of mortality statistics reported by town officials and analyzed by the Connecticut State Board of Health demonstrates how officers of the local boards of health also responded to unexpected outbreaks of a familiar disease such as influenza. Understanding how organizations measured influenza-associated mortality illustrates an important stage in the development of American public health and also makes an important contribution to studying pandemics in history.
Asunto(s)
Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Connecticut/epidemiología , Brotes de Enfermedades , Documentación , Historia del Siglo XIX , Humanos , Gripe Humana/mortalidad , Pandemias , Enfermedades Respiratorias/mortalidad , Federación de Rusia , Estados Unidos/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
Two main mechanisms contribute to the continuous evolution of influenza viruses: accumulation of mutations in the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes (antigenic drift) and genetic re-assortments (antigenic shift). Epidemiological surveillance is important in identifying new genetic variants of influenza viruses with potentially increased pathogenicity and transmissibility. In order to characterize the 2019/20 influenza epidemic in Romania, 1042 respiratory samples were collected from consecutive patients hospitalized with acute respiratory infections in the National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Prof. Dr. Matei BalÈ", Bucharest Romania and tested for influenza A virus, influenza B virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by real-time PCR. Out of them, 516 cases were positive for influenza, with relatively equal distribution of influenza A and B. Two patients had influenza A and B co-infection and 8 patients had influenza-RSV co-infection. The most severe cases, requiring supplemental oxygen administration or intensive care, and the most deaths were reported in patients aged 65 years and over. Subtyping showed the predominance of A(H3N2) compared to A(H1N1)pdm09 pdm09 (60.4% and 39.6% of all subtyped influenza A isolates, respectively), and the circulation of Victoria B lineage only. Influenza B started to circulate first (week 47/2019), with influenza A appearing slightly later (week 50/2019), followed by continued co-circulation of A and B viruses throughout the season. Sixty-eight samples, selected to cover the entire influenza season and all circulating viral types, were analysed by next generation sequencing (NGS). All A(H1N1)pdm09 sequences identified during this season in Romania were clustered in the 6b1.A clade (sub-clades: 6b1.A.183P -5a and 6b1.A.187A). For most A(H1N1)pdm09 sequences, the dominant epitope was Sb (pepitope = 0.25), reducing the vaccine efficacy by approximately 60%. According to phylogenetic analysis, influenza A(H3N2) strains circulating in this season belonged predominantly to clade 3C.3A, with only few sequences in clade 3C.2A1b. These 3C.2A1b sequences, two of which belonged to vaccinated patients, harbored mutations in antigenic sites leading to potential reduction of vaccine efficacy. Phylogenetic analysis of influenza B, lineage Victoria, sequences showed that the circulating strains belonged to clade V1A3. As compared to the other viral types, fewer mutations were observed in B/Victoria strains, with limited impact on vaccine efficiency based on estimations.
Asunto(s)
Epidemias , Hospitalización , Subtipo H1N1 del Virus de la Influenza A/genética , Subtipo H3N2 del Virus de la Influenza A/genética , Virus de la Influenza B/genética , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Infecciones por Virus Sincitial Respiratorio/epidemiología , Infecciones por Virus Sincitial Respiratorio/historia , Virus Sincitiales Respiratorios/genética , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Niño , Preescolar , Coinfección , Femenino , Historia del Siglo XXI , Humanos , Lactante , Recién Nacido , Vacunas contra la Influenza/uso terapéutico , Gripe Humana/prevención & control , Gripe Humana/virología , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Filogenia , ARN Viral/genética , Infecciones por Virus Sincitial Respiratorio/virología , Rumanía/epidemiología , Eficacia de las Vacunas , Adulto JovenAsunto(s)
Influenza Pandémica, 1918-1919/historia , Máscaras/historia , Ilustración Médica , Historia del Siglo XIX , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXI , Humanos , Influenza Pandémica, 1918-1919/prevención & control , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/historia , Pandemias/historia , Pandemias/prevención & control , Síndrome Respiratorio Agudo Grave/epidemiología , Síndrome Respiratorio Agudo Grave/historia , Síndrome Respiratorio Agudo Grave/prevención & controlRESUMEN
Resumen El desarrollo de la pandemia de la covid-19 ha motivado un renovado interés por la gripe de 1918-1919 para buscar elementos que facilitaran la comprensión de la experiencia presente, pero también como oportunidad para reevaluar la grave crisis sanitaria del siglo XX a la luz de lo que estamos viviendo. En este contexto y con ese objetivo se inserta esta reflexión histórica sobre estos dos fenómenos pandémicos, que muestra los paralelismos existentes y la necesidad de una toma de conciencia de que nuestro modelo de sociedad está en crisis y se requiere una transformación profunda.
Abstract The rise of the covid-19 pandemic has led to renewed interest in the 1918-1919 influenza in search of aspects that might help us understand the current situation, but also as an opportunity to re-evaluate the serious twentieth-century health crisis in light of what we are experiencing now. In this context and with that goal, this historical reflection shows the parallels that exist and the need for a realization that our model of society is undergoing a crisis and requires profound transformation.
Asunto(s)
Humanos , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXI , Gripe Humana/historia , Pandemias/historia , COVID-19/historia , Vacunas contra la Influenza/historia , Higiene/historia , Negación en Psicología , Primera Guerra Mundial , Economía , Gripe Humana/prevención & control , Gripe Humana/transmisión , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Vacunas contra la COVID-19/historia , COVID-19/prevención & control , COVID-19/transmisión , COVID-19/epidemiología , Personal Militar/historiaRESUMEN
The rise of the covid-19 pandemic has led to renewed interest in the 1918-1919 influenza in search of aspects that might help us understand the current situation, but also as an opportunity to re-evaluate the serious twentieth-century health crisis in light of what we are experiencing now. In this context and with that goal, this historical reflection shows the parallels that exist and the need for a realization that our model of society is undergoing a crisis and requires profound transformation.
El desarrollo de la pandemia de la covid-19 ha motivado un renovado interés por la gripe de 1918-1919 para buscar elementos que facilitaran la comprensión de la experiencia presente, pero también como oportunidad para reevaluar la grave crisis sanitaria del siglo XX a la luz de lo que estamos viviendo. En este contexto y con ese objetivo se inserta esta reflexión histórica sobre estos dos fenómenos pandémicos, que muestra los paralelismos existentes y la necesidad de una toma de conciencia de que nuestro modelo de sociedad está en crisis y se requiere una transformación profunda.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19/historia , Gripe Humana/historia , Pandemias/historia , COVID-19/epidemiología , COVID-19/prevención & control , COVID-19/transmisión , Vacunas contra la COVID-19/historia , Negación en Psicología , Economía , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXI , Humanos , Higiene/historia , Vacunas contra la Influenza/historia , Gripe Humana/epidemiología , Gripe Humana/prevención & control , Gripe Humana/transmisión , Personal Militar/historia , Primera Guerra MundialRESUMEN
Influenza viruses continue to be a major public health threat due to the possible emergence of more virulent influenza virus strains resulting from dynamic changes in virus adaptability, consequent of functional mutations and antigenic drift in surface proteins, especially hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). In this study, we describe the genetic and evolutionary characteristics of H1N1, H3N2, and influenza B strains detected in severe cases of seasonal influenza in Thailand from 2018 to 2019. We genetically characterized seven A/H1N1 isolates, seven A/H3N2 isolates, and six influenza B isolates. Five of the seven A/H1N1 viruses were found to belong to clade 6B.1 and were antigenically similar to A/Switzerland/3330/2017 (H1N1), whereas two isolates belonged to clade 6B.1A1 and clustered with A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1). Interestingly, we observed additional mutations at antigenic sites (S91R, S181T, T202I) as well as a unique mutation at a receptor binding site (S200P). Three-dimensional (3D) protein structure analysis of hemagglutinin protein reveals that this unique mutation may lead to the altered binding of the HA protein to a sialic acid receptor. A/H3N2 isolates were found to belong to clade 3C.2a2 and 3C.2a1b, clustering with A/Switzerland/8060/2017 (H3N2) and A/South Australia/34/2019 (H3N2), respectively. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed 10 mutations at antigenic sites including T144A/I, T151K, Q213R, S214P, T176K, D69N, Q277R, N137K, N187K, and E78K/G. All influenza B isolates in this study belong to the Victoria lineage. Five out of six isolates belong to clade 1A3-DEL, which relate closely to B/Washington/02/2009, with one isolate lacking the three amino acid deletion on the HA segment at position K162, N163, and D164. In comparison to the B/Colorado/06/2017, which is the representative of influenza B Victoria lineage vaccine strain, these substitutions include G129D, G133R, K136E, and V180R for HA protein. Importantly, the susceptibility to oseltamivir of influenza B isolates, but not A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 isolates, were reduced as assessed by the phenotypic assay. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring genetic variation in influenza viruses regarding how acquired mutations could be associated with an improved adaptability for efficient transmission.