Pandemics In History Research Articles

Global Health Security: Preparing For Future Pandemics

The interconnectedness of modern societies and global mobility has amplified the risk of infectious disease outbreaks escalating into pandemics. Global health security involves proactive efforts to detect, prevent, and respond to emerging health threats before they become widespread crises. Historical pandemics like the Black Death and the Spanish flu highlight the catastrophic consequences of uncontained outbreaks. Despite advancements in healthcare infrastructure, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in preparedness, emphasizing the need for enhanced global surveillance, cross-sectoral collaboration, and technological innovations. This paper explores the historical context of pandemics, key components of pandemic preparedness, and the role of global coordination and technology in mitigating future health threats. It calls for stronger international collaboration and investment in healthcare systems to ensure resilience in the face of future pandemics. Keywords: Global health security, pandemic preparedness, pandemic response, historical pandemics, COVID-19, global surveillance.

An examination of the influenza pandemic in early 20th century in Crete through the lens of the 1918 editions of Nea Ephimeris, a Cretan newspaper.

Crete, strategically situated at the crossroads of three continents, was historically embroiled in incessant conflicts between colonisers and Greek revolutionaries, as well as recurrent battles against disease. In 1918, the island faced a novel adversary: influenza. In response, the state, local authorities, and medical professionals on the island mounted a formidable defence. Hospitals, health centres, and the military all contributed to the effort. Essential provisions of medicine and food were distributed to support the populations in areas most inflicted. The Heraklion-based newspaper Nea Ephimeris played a crucial role in documenting these events. Through its articles, reports, interviews, and reviews of the influenza situation, it disseminated vital information that helped the public understand both preventive measures and the necessary actions to combat the spread of the virus. This study examines the coverage by Nea Ephimeris from January 1918 to January 1919, assessing how the newspaper informed, supported, and uplifted the urban and rural populations of Crete. The data collected reconstruct the events of that period and demonstrate how historical pandemics offer lessons that can prepare health professionals for future challenges.

Recent Advances in DNA Nanotechnology-Based Sensing Platforms for Rapid Virus Detection.

Several major viral pandemics in history have significantly impacted the public health of human beings. The COVID-19 pandemic has further underscored the critical need for early detection and screening of infected individuals. However, current detection techniques are confronted with deficiencies in sensitivity and accuracy, restricting the capability of detecting trace amounts of viruses in human bodies and in the environments. The advent of DNA nanotechnology has opened up a feasible solution for rapid and sensitive virus determination. By harnessing the designability and addressability of DNA nanostructures, a range of rapid virus sensing platforms have been proposed. This review overviewed the recent progress, application, and prospect of DNA nanotechnology-based rapid virus detection platforms. Furthermore, the challenges and developmental prospects in this field were discussed.

Sociodemographic Disparity Patterns of Perceived Stress and Resilience Among Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners During the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, 1 of the most prolonged and extensive global pandemics in history, ravaged the world. Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) played crucial roles as frontline health care providers in detecting and treating COVID-19–infected patients. The purpose of this study was to provide updated knowledge and sociodemographic disparity patterns in APRNs’ perceived stress and resilience during the prolonged pandemic period. A total of 2,412 APRNs completed the surveys. The results of this research showed that APRNs’ stress and resilience were significantly impacted by the prolonged pandemic. Significant sociodemographic disparity patterns of perceived stress and resilience among APRNs were also clearly identified.

The Great Influenza: The True Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (Young Reader's Edition) by John M. Barry (review)

The Great Influenza: The True Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (Young Reader's Edition) by John M. Barry (review)

From historical pandemics to the COVID-19 crisis: lessons learned, challenges faced, and future directions in global health

This study aims to assess the coping strategies employed during major historical pandemics and their implications for mental health. An integrative literature review was conducted, encompassing the following databases: SciELO, PubMed, Lilacs, and Google Scholar. Scientific studies were identified using relevant Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) combined with Boolean operators AND and OR. Seventeen publications that met the eligibility criteria and were published between 2003 and January 2023 were selected for analysis. The findings revealed that 9 articles (52.94%) focused on COVID-19, 2 articles (11.76%) discussed the Black Death, 3 articles (17.64%) explored the Spanish flu, 4 articles (23.52%) addressed H1N1, 1 article (5.88%) examined Perinthus cough, and 6 articles (35.29%) investigated mental health in pandemic scenarios. The study demonstrates that coping strategies have significantly improved with advancements in scientific and technological knowledge, leading to a better understanding of the transmission and prevention of pandemics, as well as the promotion of mental well-being.

Biomarkers associated with coagulation in COVID-19 patients: A literature review

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a highly contagious illness, has resulted in one of the worst pandemics in history. COVID-19, unlike other pandemics, has novel transmission mechanisms and produces diverse health-related issues. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection has been associated with thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, and lymphopenia, all of which disrupt the coagulative system and may lead to potentially fatal consequences, including pulmonary embolism. In this review of the oft-documented complications of COVID-19, including venous thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism, coagulative and inflammatory markers, such as ferritin, D-dimer, C-reactive protein, and lactate dehydrogenase have been evinced and the therapeutic options are discussed briefly. It is crucial to detect potential issues early and initiate anticoagulant-based treatments, such as low-molecular-weight heparins and unfractionated heparins to optimize patient outcomes. Therefore, a thorough understanding of COVID-19 pathophysiology and the ability to recognize coagulation abnormalities that are linked to a poor prognosis are necessary to improve patient outcomes.

Protocol for a systematic review to understand the long-term mental-health effects of influenza pandemics in the pre-COVID-19 era.

This protocol describes a forthcoming systematic review of the question: 'What are the long-term effects of historical influenza pandemics on mental health, resulting either from illness itself or the social or economic effects of pandemics and public health responses?' We will review studies that investigate associations between influenza pandemics and long-term mental-health impacts. Following the PICO framework, populations (P) may include those with and without pre-existing mental-health symptoms or conditions. Intervention (I) is exposure to an influenza pandemic during the study period encompassing five pandemics (1889-2009). Comparators or controls (C) are not applicable. The review will address outcomes (O) of mental-health morbidity from direct infection and/or related circumstances, including, for example, receiving a disability pension, institutionalisation and/or death. Due to societal disruptions, illness and bereavement during pandemics, many people are likely to be affected in myriad ways. Therefore, investigation into mental-health consequences should not be restricted by risk group or diagnosis. To our knowledge, this protocol and forthcoming systematic review are the first to include studies for broad populations and multiple measures of mental-health morbidity. The historical perspective and comparison of pandemics with varying severity but assumed similar causative pathogens also enable insights into the consistency of long-term consequences across pandemics. Pandemics likely produce long-term mental-health impacts with relevance for social, health and economic planning. The systematic review based on this protocol will complement other evidence on pandemic impacts and help policymakers incorporate relevant interventions.

COVID-19 and Pandemic Ethics in the Islamic Tradition: An Introduction

Abstract The rapid escalation of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 into a global pandemic, culminating in the World Health Organization’s declaration on March 11, 2020, marked a historic milestone. The far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates an interdisciplinary approach to address its myriad ethical challenges. This article categorizes the key ethical questions explored from an Islamic perspective into two groups: “Historical Issues” and “Modern Issues.” The former revisits questions examined in pre-modern discussions on historical pandemics, while the latter delves into ethical challenges relatively unique to the contemporary context of COVID-19. Each group’s exploration is complemented by a section on “Related Sources,” offering insight into pertinent primary works. The article concludes with reflections on the evolving trajectory of research in this field. Serving its introductory purpose, the article includes two appendices: Appendix 1, “Overview of Key Ethical Issues," provides a condensed summary in table form, while Appendix 2, “An Extended Bibliography on Islam, Pandemics, COVID-19, and Morality,” offers a comprehensive list of primary and secondary sources for researchers interested in further readings.

From Studying Historical Pandemics to Surviving One: lessons not learned

Desde la tesis de maestría (1994) he estudiado, no de manera continua, pero sí constante, el impacto de las epidemias en las poblaciones históricas del norte de Baja California, así como el noroeste novohispano en el periodo colonial tardío, con énfasis en las rutas de propagación. Todo ello desde una perspectiva histórica con el apoyo de las herramientas demográficas y con información cuantitativa más que cualitativa. Fue entonces que durante la pandemia de COVID-19 (2020-2022), me enfrenté con mi objeto de estudio, y me sorprendió lo mucho que se han estudiado las epidemias históricas y la poca información contemporánea que se tiene de las mismas, y, por tanto, se han presentado lecciones no aprendidas. Esta es una reflexión de lo aprendido o que suponía aprendido de la historia de las epidemias de los siglos xviii y xix, en contraste con las acciones emprendidas por nuestra sociedad frente a una pandemia.

THE FIRST ANIMAL DISEASE TO BE ERADICATED IN THE HISTORY OF PANDEMIC- RINDERPEST

We talk about the worst pandemics in history, like Plague of Justinian (541-543), Black Death (1347-1351), Spanish flu (1918-1919), SARS (2002-2003), swine flu (009-2010), MERS (2015- ongoing) and COVID-19 (2019- ongoing) etc., that have worn out half of the human population. What about the animals? Are they not victims of these pandemics? Yes, they were also, witnessing many zoonotic diseases such as rinderpest disease, avian influenza, food-and-mouth disease virus, etc., that led to massive killings that wore out half their population. This paper will give a brief history on Rinderpest virus that afflicted animals throughout history. While it did not infect humans it severely affected their livelihoods. Rinderpest disease- ‘Cattle Plague’, was a devastating disease of livestock responsible for continent-wide famine and poverty (14). In 2011 with UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health declaring globe eradication of rinderpest; only the second in history to be eradicated after smallpox in humans in 1980 (1). Through Longitudinal and Exploratory methodology this paper also provides a detailed history of Rinderpest from its origin to turning into the worst pandemic that changed the outcome of history, majorly affected regions/continents around the globe from decades, symptoms, role-played by various organizations in putting efforts into eradicating this disease and concludes with an overview of this pandemic.

Understanding and Forecasting Selected Philippine Stock Market Prices from Different Companies Before and During Covid-19 Pandemic using Multiple Linear Regression and Arima Model

COVID-19 became one of the most devastating pandemics in history. The loss of jobs, businesses, and even life had a huge impact on the world and at the same time, the economy of every country was jeopardized. Finding different ways to earn during the pandemic might be hard, but a reliable way could be investing. In the pandemic setting, the study aims to answer the question: is investing in the stock market an effective source of income with all the negative effects causing a financial crisis? On the other hand, out of the many companies in the stock market, a cluster sampling method was used to get a company from each of the clusters or sectors in the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi). From the chosen companies namely: PLDT, JFC, MPI, BPI, and MEG, each company’s stock prices before the pandemic (2016-2019) and during the pandemic (2020-2021) were correlated using multiple linear regression to show the relationship of the stock prices to economic indicators such as GDP, Inflation Rate, and Unemployment. Furthermore, the study uses ARIMA modeling to forecast 30-day stock prices for December 2019 and March 2021. To supplement the forecast of the data, performance indicators of each company for the 5-year range were obtained to further give analysis on the better investment. The study showed significant returns for the stock prices of each corporation based on MAPE, before and during the pandemic. The forecasted models are below 10% MAPE except for MPIs before the pandemic model. Forecasting the stock prices of these companies can help investors to buy low and sell high, which is taking advantage of the situation to earn higher returns while alleviating businesses as well as the economy to recover. Keywords: COVID-19, ARIMA, Multiple Linear Regression, Stock Market, PSEi

A Dialogue on Un/Precendented Pandemic Rhetorics

Inspired by conversations at the 2021 Rhetoric Society of America Institute workshop on Pandemic Rhetoric(s), this dialogue assembles graduate student, early-, mid-career, and established rhetoric of health and medicine (RHM) and critical health communication scholars to discuss a keyword that has structured political, social, and biomedical thinking about COVID-19: un/precedented. In identifying un/precedented as an organizing temporal rhetoric for the pandemic, we interrogate how recurrent appeals to the pandemic’s novelty both allow for and limit our capacities to meet the pandemic’s tremendous exigencies head-on. Leveraging our unique scholarly and community commitments, we theorize how un/precedentedness 1) becomes complicit in government inaction, 2) (re)asserts conceptual and literal borders, 3) justifies state and national public health mandates, and 4) obscures other historical and contemporary pandemics. We conclude by offering possibilities for interdisciplinary and longitudinal research into the far-reaching effects of contagious disease.

PULMONARY REHABILITATION IN POST COVID SEQUELAE IN INDIA

An outbreak of pneumonia was reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019 and quickly spread to all Chinese provinces. 1, 2 The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic spread through 190 countries within 20 weeks from Wuhan, China, affecting 334,000 populations. This caused more than 14,500 deaths by mid-March 2020. The number of infected people has risen to 1,210,956 in the month of April 6, 2020, with 67,594 associated expirations. 4 India recorded its first COVID-19 infection case on January 30, 2020 in a student from China's capital, Wuhan. In 2020, India reported 360 positive COVID-19 cases from 23 states across the country. 4 in India, the number of asymptomatic cases was higher. On April 4, 2019, a novel coronavirus pathogen was proved to be a novel betacoronavirus. 2 Sub-micron sized viruses, narrated as "organisms at the edge of life", are liable for some of the worst human pandemics in history, like influenza (1918), smallpox (1978), and COVID-19, as of September 17, 2020. 2 The SARS-CoV-2 virus is causative for COVID-19. Nearly 29 million people have been affected by this virus, which caused 936,521 deaths worldwide (WHO, 2020). 2 Corona viruses are single-stranded positive-strand RNA viruses that are known to contain some of the largest viral genomes, up to around 32 kbp in length. Following an augmentation in the number of coronavirus genome sequences available and following efforts to investigate the diversity in the wild, the family Corona viridae now contains four genera. The structure of the coronavirus as given in figure 1 Those species that belong to the genera Alpha corona virus and Beta corona virus can infect mammalian hosts, while those of Gamma corona virus and the recently defined Delta corona virus mainly infect avian species. 3 The highly pathogenic human coronaviruses, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), belong to lineage B (sub-genus Sarbecovirus) and lineage C (sub-genus Merbecovirus) of Betacoronavirus. 3

Unprecedented Times: Māori Experiences of Pandemics Past in the Time of COVID-19

Covid-19’s (mate korona) spread across the world and the implementation of wide sweeping government instigated public health measures saw a growing notion globally that we are living in “unprecidented times”. This notion was also expressed in Aotearoa New Zealand with the arrival of Covid-19 to Aotearoa New Zealand shores in early 2020. While Covid-19 presents a new epidemiological threat, examination of Aotearoa’s historical twentith century pandemics and sporadic outbreaks of infectious diseases show similar challanges to tikanga Māori (Māori protocols, customs, and behavioural guidelines) as COVID-19 presents today. This paper contextualises Māori experiences of epidemics and pandemics of the past and explores the historical and contemporary assaults on Māori customs during times of disease. Drawing on archival research, contemporary sources, and interviews with kaumātua (Māori elders) conducted during Aotearoa’s first national lockdown in 2020, this study scrutinises both historical and contemporary New Zealand Governmental responses and media attitudes towards tangihanga (funarary rites) and hongi (pressing of the noses) during pandemics and epidemics. Alongside examining the cultural significance and importance of tangihanga and hongi to Māori, this study shows that far from being “unprecedented times”, many of the same challenges to these practices Māori have faced during past pandemics and epidemics have remerged during COVID-19. Through this examination, this study highlights that a pattern exists where tikanga Māori practices come under public and political scrutiny and attack during pandemics and infectious disease outbreaks. Kaumātua are bastions of tikanga and collective memory of pandemics and other crises of the past and have integrated tikanga based disease mitigation measures into their intergenerational collective memory corpus. This paper highlights both the importance of these tikanga practices to kaumātua, and how tikanga informed kaumātua approaches to COVID-19 public health measure restrictions and their personal hauora (health). By undertaking this study, this paper draws particular attention to tikanga as an imperative aspect of Māori identity that must be understood by health officials, and the continual importance of the tikanga Māori concept of tapu (restricted, set apart, sacred) in mitigating disease and maintaining Māori hauora (health).

Oral mucosa immunity: ultimate strategy to stop spreading of pandemic viruses.

Global pandemics are most likely initiated via zoonotic transmission to humans in which respiratory viruses infect airways with relevance to mucosal systems. Out of the known pandemics, five were initiated by respiratory viruses including current ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Striking progress in vaccine development and therapeutics has helped ameliorate the mortality and morbidity by infectious agents. Yet, organism replication and virus spread through mucosal tissues cannot be directly controlled by parenteral vaccines. A novel mitigation strategy is needed to elicit robust mucosal protection and broadly neutralizing activities to hamper virus entry mechanisms and inhibit transmission. This review focuses on the oral mucosa, which is a critical site of viral transmission and promising target to elicit sterile immunity. In addition to reviewing historic pandemics initiated by the zoonotic respiratory RNA viruses and the oral mucosal tissues, we discuss unique features of the oral immune responses. We address barriers and new prospects related to developing novel therapeutics to elicit protective immunity at the mucosal level to ultimately control transmission.

Pandemics and financial development: A lesson from the 1918 influenza pandemic

This paper examines the long-lasting impact of one of the deadliest pandemics in history on present-day financial development. Based on the variation in the severity of the 1918 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu) across the regions within Italy and the variation across 34 countries, we find that people living in the regions with higher historical death rates are associated with a lower level of present-day trust. As a result, firms in these regions face more financial obstacles and have greater difficulty in accessing both bank loans and trade credit. Furthermore, households in these regions display a lower take-up of credit cards and mortgages. They also use Fintech services less. Because laboratory results suggest that an avian H1N1 virus can form clear plaques at a lower temperature, we instrument the death rates with the temperature in autumn of 1918, and find the results remain consistent, confirming the causal link between the severity of the 1918 flu pandemic and present-day financial development.

Trust in COVID-19 Information from Different Media Types and Its Association with Preventive Measures Adoption in the U.S.

This study compares and contrasts how key factors influence Americans’ trust in different types of media (broadcast, print, and social) as COVID-19 information sources and how people’s media trust is associated with their adoption of preventive measures. Our results from a national survey (sample = 2571) showed that age, political party affiliation, and race and ethnicity and income level were significantly associated with people’s trust in different media types as COVID information sources. Elder adults trusted print and broadcast media more, while younger adults trusted social media more. Democrats and Lean Democrats had more trust in all three forms of media than Republicans and Lean Republicans. Asians had the highest levels of trust in all three media types, while Whites had the lowest level of trust in broadcast and social media. Trust in broadcast media was found to be associated with facial mask wearing, but trust in social media, however, did not contribute to the adoption of any COVID-19 preventive measures. This study contributes to a general understanding of media trust and mediated health communication and provides nuanced understanding of how demographic factors shape media trust and the consequence of media trust during a historical pandemic.

Infodemic, Health Promotion Efforts, and Preventive Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia: A Quantitative Analysis Study

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the first pandemic in history where technologies and social media are used on a large scale to make people safe, informed, productive, and connected. At the same time, these technologies enabled the rise of the infodemic, which endangered pandemic control. This study aimed to assess COVID-19 information exposure in the community, the efforts to find related information in online media, and COVID-19 preventive behavior. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 909 participants in Indonesia using the consecutive sampling technique. Data were collected using a questionnaire distributed through social media (WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook) and analyzed using univariate analysis, bivariate analysis (Chi-square test), and multivariate analysis (multiple logistic regression). The results showed that about 838 (92.2%) participants said they often or always obtain information about COVID-19 online, 662 (72.8%) participants stated that information from online sources increased their knowledge of the disease, and 728 (80.1%) said that online information enabled them to make preventive efforts. Marital status (AOR: 1.81, p-value = 0.002) and perceived susceptibility (AOR: 1.42, p-value= 0.011) were the most influential factors for COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Information sources and channels frequently accessed by the community must be professionally managed by the government as valuable tools for mitigating an epidemic or pandemic.

Pandemics past: Collective memories for a global community?

Collective memories support collective identities and provide lessons for group members to manage present challenges. Three surveys (total N = 1,137) tested whether U.S. nationals who strongly identify with all humanity (IWAH) were more interested in learning about pandemics in history as events that affected the whole world (Study 1) and more knowledgeable about past pandemics (Studies 2a and 2b). Stronger IWAH predicted greater interest in learning about past pandemics, but not greater knowledge of these events. Further, while IWAH was a consistent predictor of support for global cooperation for pandemic preparedness and, to a lesser extent, of compliance with COVID-19 health-protective behaviors, knowledge of past pandemics contributed modestly to these outcomes. These findings suggest that while past pandemics have the potential to become global memories, they are not yet actual global memories that inform a sense of global human identity and offer courses of action for the present.