Pandemics past, present, and future: progress and persistent risks
Arturo Casadevall
Abstract
When the JCI began publishing in 1924, the world was recovering from the end of the First World War and the lingering aftermath of the 1918 influenza pandemic.The 100th anniversary of the JCI occurs nearly five years since the initial appearance of COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2.I was a JCI deputy editor during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, when I witnessed firsthand how the pandemic affected journal operations and how the Journal published a series of important articles that defined the disease and the immune response and helped catalyze early medical responses (1).The JCI has now published through five pandemics, three caused by influenza virus in 1957, 1968, and 2009, one caused by the retrovirus HIV that began in 1981, and another caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in 2019.In this essay, I will reflect on what we have learned from these five pandemics and try to identify themes that could help with future global infectious disease outbreaks.Conflict of interest: AC is a member of the scientific advisory board of Sab Therapeutics.