Interesting study...

[Cat]

This is a study conducted to examine the long-term effects of the 1918 pandemic flu. Tables and graphs, interesting but time-consuming. You might want to save it offline to read thoroughly.

 

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Is the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Over?

 

Long-term Effects of In Utero Influenza Exposure in the Post-1940 U.S. Population

 

Douglas Almond

Columbia University and NBER

June 15, 2006

 

 

"2.3 Maternal and Fetal Health

 

A distinguishing feature of the 1918 Pandemic was the age profile of victims. While previous influenza outbreaks were most deadly for the relatively weak (the very old and the very young), the 1918 Pandemic had its largest proportionate effect on those in the prime ages of 25 to 35. This resulted in an unusual “W-shaped” age distribution of influenza deaths, where the very young, those around age 30, and the elderly were most likely to die (Noymer and Garenne (2000)).

 

While mortality from the 1918 virus was unprecedented, the vast majority of those infected survived. The U.S. Public Health Service surveyed 130,248 people shortly after the Pandemic in fifteen urban and rural communities and found that 28 percent reported being infected during the Pandemic (Jordan (1927):189). Pyle refers to the “temporary flattening or indisposition and mandatory bedrest” of one-quarter of the U.S. population, with “repeated instances of lethargy” often following bouts of influenza (Pyle (1986):52,41).

 

Influenza was “especially prevalent among women of the child-bearing age” (Harris (1919):978). Winn and Hobbins (2000) noted that influenza outbreaks were associated with higher “morbidity and mortality in pregnant patients than in the non-pregnant population.” The “most vulnerable of all to influenza, those most likely to die, were pregnant women” (Barry (2004):239)."

 

 

 

"8 Conclusion

 

Prenatal exposure to the 1918 Influenza Pandemic had large negative effects on adult economic outcomes. This study concludes that the full impact of congenital characteristics may not be immediately observed and therefore go undetected."