• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Monday, August 4, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Learning from history to fight against COVID-19

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 9, 2020
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Grant awarded to MU researchers looks for similarities, differences between 1918 flu pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic

IMAGE

Credit: Image courtesy of The State Historical Society of Missouri.

What can the 1918 flu pandemic teach people about the current COVID-19 pandemic? That’s what a group of researchers at the University of Missouri hope to uncover with the help of a recent COVID-19 RAPID grant from the National Science Foundation.

Over the course of a year, the grant allows researchers to study the 1918 flu pandemic in Missouri for any similarities and differences to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Their findings could help inform overall strategies for mitigating the spread of the current virus in the U.S.

Researchers from Mizzou’s Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, College of Arts and Science, College of Engineering, College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Health Professions and School of Medicine are involved in the project. Lisa Sattenspiel, a professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Science, and Carolyn Orbann, an associate teaching professor of health science in the School of Health Professions, are the co-principal investigators on the project.

Sattenspiel is a biological anthropologist who has studied human infectious diseases for more than 40 years, including more than 25 years studying the 1918 flu pandemic. She said the team’s interdisciplinary approach is important for developing a complete understanding of an infectious disease and how it spreads among human populations.

“Any kind of infectious disease in humans is a really complex problem,” Sattenspiel said. “If you want to fully understand a disease’s impact, you not only have to understand the biology and epidemiology of the disease, but you also have to understand the social circumstances — how people are interacting, spreading and responding to the disease and why people are doing what they do. That’s what we will be able to do here with all of the various disciplines involved with this project.”

The project will use Missouri death certificate data between 1918-1920 from people who died from influenza and pneumonia, since it was difficult at the time to distinguish which respiratory disease was the actual cause of death. The data will be used by the team to develop a detailed analysis of the 1918 pandemic, including geographical spread, underlying socioeconomic conditions and any differences between rural and urban areas in the state. The researchers said their analysis will also include racial and ethnic disparities but will be limited because of the amount of information that is available from that time.

Orbann said by studying a three-year period and not just 1918, the project could also provide valuable information about the potential for additional outbreaks — called an echo wave — beyond the first geographical spread of the disease.

“Existing research on the 1918 pandemic has shown that some places around the world experienced what looks like an echo wave all the way to 1920,” Orbann said. “For instance, some places in Missouri reported more deaths in late 1919 and early 1920 than during the peak in 1918. That information could help us better understand if places that escape the first wave of coronavirus — where we are now — could have the potential to get hit hard with the virus later on.”

###

Media Contact
Eric Stann
[email protected]

Original Source

https://news.missouri.edu/2020/learning-from-history-to-fight-against-covid-19/

Tags: AnthropologyBiologyDeath/DyingDisease in the Developing WorldEpidemiologyHistoryInfectious/Emerging DiseasesMedicine/HealthPublic HealthPulmonary/Respiratory Medicine
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Timed Progenitor Competence Guides Mouse GABA Neuron Maturation

August 4, 2025
blank

Human Insula-Hippocampus Interaction Drives Memory Encoding

August 4, 2025

Introducing The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics: A Groundbreaking Report

August 4, 2025

Experts Launch Initiative to Track Plastic Pollution’s Hidden Threats to Human Health, Warns The Lancet

August 4, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    53 shares
    Share 21 Tweet 13
  • Predicting Colorectal Cancer Using Lifestyle Factors

    43 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Assessing Human Exposure to Nano- and Microplastics

Droplet PCR Precisely Measures FRS2 in Bladder Cancer

Single-Molecule Fluorescence Imaging with Gated Camera

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.