The 1918–19 Influenza Pandemic in Boyacá, Colombia

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Chowell, Gerardo ; Viboud, Cécile ; Simonsen, Lone ; Miller, Mark A. ; Acuna-Soto, Rodolfo ; Díaz, Juan M. Ospina ; Martínez-Martín, Abel Fernando
• Description:
  To quantify age-specific excess-mortality rates and transmissibility patterns for the 1918-20 influenza pandemic in Boyacá, Colombia, we reviewed archival mortality records. We identified a severe pandemic wave during October 1918-January1919 associated with 40 excess deaths per 10,000 population. The age profile for excess deaths was W shaped; highest mortality rates were among infants (<5 y of age), followed by elderly persons (>60 y) and young adults (25-29 y). Mean reproduction number was estimated at 1.4-1.7, assuming 3- or 4-day generation intervals. Boyacá, unlike cities in Europe, the United States, or Mexico, experienced neither a herald pandemic wave of deaths early in 1918 nor a recrudescent wave in 1920. In agreement with reports from Mexico, our study found no death-sparing effect for elderly persons in Colombia. We found regional disparities in prior immunity and timing of introduction of the 1918 pandemic virus across populations.
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Age Distribution Child History, 20Th Century Humans Influenza, Human Influenza Pandemic, 1918-1919 Pandemics
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 18(1):48-56.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Genre:
  Historical Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colombia
• Volume:
  18
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:6f6dc794c5b71daed3578021bf121c85e71afce594b70f425fc01efdb111f5cc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/23607/cdc_23607_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 454.40 KB ]