title: Changing perceptions: of pandemic influenza and public health responses.
abstract: According to the latest World Bank estimates, over the past decade some US $4.3 billion has been pledged by governments to combat the threat of pandemic influenza. Presidents, prime ministers, and even dictators the world over have been keen to demonstrate their commitment to tackling this disease, but this has not always been the case. Indeed, government-led intervention in responding to the threat of pandemic influenza is a relatively recent phenomenon. I explore how human understandings of influenza have altered over the past 500 years and how public policy responses have shifted accordingly. I trace the progress in human understanding of causation from meteorological conditions to the microscopic, and how this has prompted changes in public policy to mitigate the disease's impact. I also examine the latest trend of viewing pandemic influenza as a security threat and how this has changed contemporary governance structures and power dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Adam.Kamradt-Scott@lshtm.ac.uk
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamradt-Scott
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D014943:Global Health; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history / Q000517:prevention & control; D058873:Pandemics / Q000266:history / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends; D011640:Public Policy / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States
references.citation: Vaccine. 2002 May 15;20 Suppl 2:S5-14
references.pmid: 12110248
references.citation: Public Health Rep (1896). 1957 Feb;72(2):101-4
references.pmid: 13408410
references.citation: J Public Health Manag Pract. 2006 Jul-Aug;12(4):373-80
references.pmid: 16775535
references.citation: Br Med J. 1968 Dec 28;4(5634):789-92
references.pmid: 5702293
references.citation: World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 1953 Apr;6(64):1-32
references.pmid: 13049873
references.citation: Milbank Mem Fund Q. 1947 Jan;25(1):5-20
references.pmid: 20294983
references.citation: Emerg Infect Dis. 1995 Jan-Mar;1(1):7-15
references.pmid: 8903148
references.citation: Am J Public Health. 2010 Dec;100(12):2347-53
references.pmid: 20966376
references.citation: Health Aff (Millwood). 2002 Nov-Dec;21(6):117-30
references.pmid: 12442847
references.citation: Bull Hist Med. 2002 Spring;76(1):105-15
references.pmid: 11875246
references.citation: Vaccine. 2002 May 15;20 Suppl 2:S63-5
references.pmid: 12110262
references.citation: Nature. 2005 Apr 14;434(7035):821
references.pmid: 15829937
references.citation: Public Health Rep (1896). 1958 Feb;73(2):165-78
references.pmid: 13506005
references.citation: World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 1969;408:1-100
references.pmid: 4308060
references.citation: Clin Infect Dis. 2001 Mar 1;32(5):675-85
references.pmid: 11229834
references.citation: Emerg Infect Dis. 2006 Jan;12(1):34-9
references.pmid: 16494714
references.citation: Bull World Health Organ. 1969;41(3):393-8
references.pmid: 5309444
references.citation: J R Coll Gen Pract. 1969 Feb;17(79):100-3
references.pmid: 5404229
references.citation: Public Health Rep (1896). 1958 Feb;73(2):114-20
references.pmid: 13505995
references.citation: Biosecur Bioterror. 2006;4(2):113-27
references.pmid: 16792479
references.citation: Clin Infect Dis. 2007 Nov 15;45(10):1362-8
references.pmid: 17968836
references.citation: J Infect Dis. 2008 Aug 1;198(3):305-11
references.pmid: 18558871
references.citation: J R Soc Interface. 2008 Jun 6;5(23):631-9
references.pmid: 17916550
references.citation: Emerg Infect Dis. 2006 Jan;12(1):55-60
references.pmid: 16494718
references.citation: J Exp Med. 2008 Jan 21;205(1):7-12
references.pmid: 18195078
references.citation: BMC Public Health. 2009 Apr 29;9:117
references.pmid: 19400970
references.citation: Postgrad Med J. 1979 Feb;55(640):78-86
references.pmid: 461277
references.citation: Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2004 Mar;18(1):141-55
references.pmid: 15081510
references.citation: Bull World Health Organ. 1953;8(5-6):755-74
references.pmid: 13094504
references.citation: Bull N Y Acad Med. 1978 Oct;54(9):855-64
references.pmid: 361123
references.citation: Emerg Infect Dis. 1998 Jul-Sep;4(3):362-5
references.pmid: 9716946
references.citation: Trans Am Climatol Assoc. 1899;15:286-303
references.pmid: 21408256
references.citation: Public Health. 2009 Mar;123(3):255-9
references.pmid: 19223051