Strengthening the Global Response to Infectious Disease Threats in the Twenty-First Century, with a COVID-19 Epilogue
David E. Bloom, Daniel Cadarette
Abstract
In 1918, as the First World War was winding to a close, a mysterious disease that left victims blue in the face and gasping for air tore through the trenches crisscrossing Europe and traversed the oceans, stowed away on warships. By the time the so-called Spanish flu had run its course in 1920, the pandemic had infected more than a quarter of the world's population and resulted in some 30 million to 100 million deaths (Patterson & Pyle, 1991; Johnson & Mueller, 2002). In comparison, the two world wars are estimated to have killed roughly 77 million combined (The Economist, 2018). By any measure, the 1918 flu pandemic was one of the worst catastrophes of the twentieth century.
Topics & Concepts
PandemicQuarter (Canadian coin)Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)HistoryAncient historyPopulation2019-20 coronavirus outbreakInfectious disease (medical specialty)GeographySevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)DemographyEconomic historyVirologyDiseaseMedicineSociologyArchaeologyOutbreakPathologyHealth and Conflict StudiesGlobal Public Health Policies and EpidemiologyGlobal Health Care Issues