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The Coronavirus Vs. The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Emergency military hospital during influenza epidemic, Camp Funston, Kansas. Dated 1918 or 1919.

 

In his recent article for The Atlantic, Dr. Jeremy Brown, author of Influenza: The 100-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History, wrote: “If the terrible influenza pandemic of 1918 and the current coronavirus outbreak share one feature, it is this: People are terribly afraid.” 

According to Dr. Brown, while fear links these two outbreaks together, that is where the similarities end between the coronavirus and the influenza pandemic. We’ll talk on Friday at noon about what happened in 1918, how the country handled it and how our responses to these medical emergencies have changed over the past 100 years. 

GUEST

  • Dr. Jeremy Brown is the author of Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History [IndieBound|Amazon|Audibleand the director of the Office of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health.
Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.