Could The Deadly 1918 Flu Pandemic Happen Again? — Dennis Thompson

One hundred years ago, the deadliest influenza pandemic of all time made a ravaging march across the globe. That raises the inevitable question as the United States battles its way through another severe flu season – could a pandemic as devastating in scope occur in the future? Many medical advances since 1918 have improved people's ability to survive a flu infection, including antivirals and antibiotics, ventilators and vaccinations to protect against both the flu and pneumonia, said Nicole Bouvier, MD, associate professor of medicine, infectious disease and microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "We have good supportive care to nurse people through an acute and horrible case of flu," Dr. Bouvier said. "We're better able to get people through a critical illness than we were in 1918." Additionally, the 1918 influenza virus – an H1N1 strain – seems to have been more virulent than any flu that’s since gone on to cause a pandemic, she added. "It certainly is possible that a flu virus could again arise in the animal reservoir that is more pathogenic than the typical flu," Dr. Bouvier said.

• Nicole M. Bouvier, MD, Associate Professor, Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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