Reinfections and Cross-Protection in the 1918/19 Influenza Pandemic: Revisiting a Survey Among Male and Female Factory Workers.

ABSTRACT: Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic highlights questions regarding reinfections and immunity resulting from vaccination and/or previous illness. Studies addressing related questions for historical pandemics are limited. Methods: We revisit an unnoticed archival source on the 1918/19 influenza pandemic. We analysed individual responses to a medical survey completed by an entire factory workforce in Western Switzerland in 1919. Results: Among the total of n = 820 factory workers, 50.2% reported influenza-related illness during the pandemic, the majority of whom reported severe illness. Among male workers 47.4% reported an illness vs. 58.5% of female workers, although this might be explained by varied age distribution for each sex (median age was 31 years old for men

SUBMITTER: Matthes KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10169597 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature