On this week's episode, we review the history of the flu. We explore ancient flu pandemics, the "Spanish flu" of 1918, and the state of the flu today. In addition, we explore why the flu is so hard to achieve lasting immunity from infection or vaccination. We also get into the nitty-gritty of what the flu is, how it works, and what's being done in the world of science and clinical research to help protect us better.

References:

Trilla, A., Trilla, G., & Daer, C. (2008). The 1918 “spanish flu” in spain. Clinical infectious diseases, 47(5), 668-673. https://doi.org/10.1086/590567

Lina, B. (2008). History of influenza pandemics. In Paleomicrobiology: past human infections (pp. 199-211). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Saunders-Hastings, P. R., & Krewski, D. (2016). Reviewing the history of pandemic influenza: understanding patterns of emergence and transmission. Pathogens, 5(4), 66. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/5/4/66

Barry, J. M. (2004). The site of origin of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its public health implications. Journal of Translational medicine, 2(1), 3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC340389/

Potter, C. W. (2001). A history of influenza. Journal of applied microbiology, 91(4), 572-579. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2672.2001.01492.x

Francis, M. E., King, M. L., & Kelvin, A. A. (2019). Back to the future for influenza preimmunity—Looking back at influenza virus history to infer the outcome of future infections. Viruses, 11(2), 122. https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/11/2/122

Hannoun, C. (2013). The evolving history of influenza viruses and influenza vaccines. Expert review of vaccines, 12(9), 1085-1094. https://doi.org/10.1586/14760584.2013.824709