Articles: pandemics.
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Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz · Apr 2016
Review Meta Analysis[Influenza pandemic deaths in Germany from 1918 to 2009. Estimates based on literature and own calculations].
Estimation of the number of deaths as a consequence of the influenza pandemics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (i.e. 1918-1919, 1957-1958, 1968-1970 and 2009) is a challenge worldwide and also in Germany. After conducting a systematic literature search complemented by our own calculations, values and estimates for all four pandemics were collated and evaluated. ⋯ We have proposed plausible estimates of pandemic-related excess number of deaths for the last four pandemics as well as excess mortality in Germany. The heterogeneity among pandemics is large with a variation factor of more than 1000. Possible explanations include characteristics of the virus or host (immunity), social conditions, status of the healthcare system and medical advances.
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The Zika virus outbreak has captivated the attention of the global audience and information has spread rapidly and wildly through the internet and other media channels. This virus was first identified in 1947, when it was isolated from a sentinel rhesus monkey placed by British scientists working at the Yellow Fever Research Laboratory located in the Zika forest area of Uganda, hence its name, and is transmitted primarily by the mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti. The fact that the rhesus macaque is an Asian species being placed in an African forest brings to mind the possibility of rapid adaptation of the virus from an African to Asian species, an issue that has not been considered. ⋯ As of this date, there are neither commercially licensed diagnostic tests nor a vaccine. Because cross-reactivity of the Zika virus with dengue and Chikungunya virus is common, it may pose difficulty in being able to quickly develop such tests and vaccines. So far the most effective public health measures include controlling the mosquito populations via insecticides and preventing humans from direct exposure to mosquitoes.