title: The 1918-19 influenza pandemic in Boyacá, Colombia.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85282, USA. gchowell@asu.edu
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chowell
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Viboud
authors.forename: Lone
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Simonsen
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Acuna-Soto
authors.forename: Juan M Ospina
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.forename: Abel Fernando
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Martínez-Martín
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history* / Q000401:mortality; D058873:Pandemics / Q000266:history*