Host and viral genetic diversity can help explain mortality during the 1918-21 influenza pandemic in the Pacific region

Authors :: Lluis Quintana-Murci
Arnaud Tarantola
Paul F. Horwood
Vincent Richard
Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Calédonie
Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)
James Cook University (JCU)
Génétique Evolutive Humaine - Human Evolutionary Genetics
Institut Pasteur [Paris]-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Source :: The Lancet Infectious Diseases, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, New York, NY : Elsevier Science ; The Lancet Pub. Group, 2001-, 2018, 18 (8), pp.833-834. ⟨10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30408-0⟩, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2018, 18 (8), pp.833-834. ⟨10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30408-0⟩
Publication Year :: 2018
Abstract: [Extract] We commend Dennis Shanks and colleagues for their extensive, thoughtful Historical Review of the dynamics of the 1918–21 pandemic influenza in the Pacific region. We differ, however, with some of their points. The authors are perplexed by the wide geographical variation in mortality, which might be explained by several factors. First, the assumption that influenza epidemics in the south Pacific region during 1918–21 were caused by the same viral strains might be unfounded. As the authors show, different territories were not affected simultaneously.

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