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09.06.2020

SFedU scientists draw historical parallels of global pandemics

09.06.2020

The historians of Southern Federal University decided to recall the most famous pandemics that occurred in the past centuries, as well as their impact on global processes in the economy, geopolitics and demography.

Oxana Karnaukhova, PhD, associate professor of Institute of History and International Relations SFedU, spoke about the terrible flu pandemic that swept the world and claimed millions of lives at the beginning of the last century.

“Spanish flu” forced the international community to unite

“Nowadays, during the period of the announced pandemic caused by the coronavirus, we often recall how over the centuries the epidemics influenced global processes in the economy, geopolitics, and demography. There were three such flu pandemics in the 20th century: in 1918 (“Spanish flu”), 1951 (“Asian flu”), and 1968 (“Hong Kong flu”). Of these, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was considered the most devastating in modern history, - said Oksana Karnaukhova - It is also known as “La Grippe” and was caused by the H1N1 A3 flu virus, infecting 500 million people worldwide, including remote Pacific Islands and the Arctic. First, the disease killed between 2% and 20% of those infected, compared with the more common 0.1% death rate from an influenza epidemic. Secondly, the pandemic mainly claimed the lives of young people, with 99% of deaths occurring among people under the age of 65, and more than half among young people aged 20 to 40 years. The severity of the flu pandemic was exacerbated by two major problems - the consequences of World War I and the limited scientific knowledge. In 1918, little was known about virology and antiviral therapy”.

According to the historian, there are still various theories about the origin of the H1N1 flu virus and the reasons for its development into a pandemic. And this gave rise to numerous stereotypes and myths around the “Spanish flu”. Some researchers believed that the flu originated in China, but there are suggestions that the outbreaks of flu in 1916 in France, in 1917 in Britain and in early 1918 in the United States were manifestations of the first wave of the “Spanish flu” pandemic. Another stereotype around the flu is associated with the chronology of the pandemic. The 1918 pandemic occurred in three waves over an 18-month period and spread throughout the world. The first wave, or “spring” wave, began in 1918 and spread rather unevenly across the United States, Europe, and some parts of Asia over the course of the next six-month period. The second, or “autumn” wave, from September to November 1918, was global, without disregarding any large populated region, undermining demographic processes. It covered all major inhabited regions, influencing demographic processes. Despite the name, India became the focus of the “Spanish flu” epidemic in terms of the highest mortality

rate, where, according to rough estimates, the death toll was 10-20 million people. The world was completely unprepared for the swiftness of the epidemic waves, which led to enormous losses among the population across the globe. An unconditional trigger was the First World War, whose ending coincided with a flu outbreak. The conditions of the war contributed to the cross-border transmission of the flu virus and made optimal conditions for the spread of flu in places such as military barracks, warships, military trains, prisoner of war camps, labor camps, factories, mines, schools, etc. Flu has increased the number of deaths in the United States. According to some estimates, the 1918 flu pandemic claimed the lives of 675,000 Americans, including 43,000 military personnel who were mobilized to fight in the war. Another stereotype born around the 1918 pandemic is related to the name of the pandemic. There are various opinions on reason why the flu pandemic was also known as the “Spanish flu”. During the First World War, press censorship in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States suspended the dissemination of information that was considered detrimental to hostilities, including the outbreak of the flu. Due to the country's neutrality, the press in Spain was not censored by wartime and was the first country to report a pandemic. Since then, this epidemic has become widely known as the “Spanish flu”. Another reason arising from the historical context is that the most accurate information about the flu came from Spain, where King Alfonso XIII was the most notable victim. The media in Spain regularly published reports on the health status of the king and the nation.

“The worldwide flu pandemic of 1918 demonstrated a global public health problem because protection and prevention measures were minimal or nonexistent, and there were no antibiotics or antiviral drugs to treat the flu. The lack of scientific knowledge of viral pathogenicity and limited advances in medicine have created problems for the response. In addition, the First World War caused an acute shortage of doctors and medical personnel who could respond to the health crisis caused by the pandemic. The measures we know are the result of the tragic experience of the “Spanish flu” pandemic - quarantine, isolation, public propaganda, warnings, campaigns against unsanitary behavior, legal restrictions on commercial activities, inspections, disease surveillance, as well as mandatory (often public) identification and stigmatization of violators. Lacking vaccines to prevent the spread of the virus and enough research in virology, the community’s ability to fight a pandemic depended on its moral, political and legal authority. The devastating consequences of the flu pandemic forced the world community to rethink the issue of pandemic preparedness, which ultimately helped to develop measures to prevent pandemics in the subsequent period. In 1947, at the request of a group of scientists, the WHO Interim Commission agreed to establish a World Influenza Center to collect and disseminate information, conduct and coordinate laboratory work on the virus, and train new laboratory staff. The National

Influenza Centre (NIC) established in London marked the beginning of a wider WHO influenza program aimed at planning action against future pandemics, the development of control methods to limit exposure in the event of a pandemic and to limit as much as possible the economic consequences of flu epidemics and pandemics. All these efforts to ensure preparedness for flu epidemics were the result of the 1918 pandemic”, added Oksana Karnaukhova.

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