Review abstract
Nature Immunology 8, 1188 - 1193 (2007)
Published online: 19 October 2007 | doi:10.1038/ni1530
Protective immunity and susceptibility to infectious diseases: lessons from the 1918 influenza pandemic
Rafi Ahmed1, Michael B A Oldstone2 & Peter Palese3
Abstract
The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed nearly 50 million people worldwide and was characterized by an atypical W-shaped mortality curve, where adults between the ages of 30–60 years fared better than younger adults aged 18–30 years. In this review, we will discuss why this influenza virus strain was so virulent and how immunological memory to the 1918 virus may have shaped the W mortality curve. We will end on the topic of the 'honeymoon' period of infectious diseases—the clinically documented period between the ages of 4–13 years during which children demonstrate less morbidity and/or mortality to infectious diseases, in general, compared with young adults.
- Emory Vaccine Center and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
- Viral-Immunobiology Laboratory, Molecular and Integrative Neurosciences Department, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
- Departments of Microbiology and Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, New York 10029, USA.
Correspondence to: Rafi Ahmed1 e-mail: ra@microbio.emory.edu.
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