Department of History, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4348, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2010 Apr;125 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):48-62. doi: 10.1177/00333549101250S308.
The Spanish influenza arrived in the United States at a time when new forms of mass transportation, mass media, mass consumption, and mass warfare had vastly expanded the public places in which communicable diseases could spread. Faced with a deadly "crowd" disease, public health authorities tried to implement social-distancing measures at an unprecedented level of intensity. Recent historical work suggests that the early and sustained imposition of gathering bans, school closures, and other social-distancing measures significantly reduced mortality rates during the 1918-1919 epidemics. This finding makes it all the more important to understand the sources of resistance to such measures, especially since social-distancing measures remain a vital tool in managing the current H1N1 influenza pandemic. To that end, this historical analysis revisits the public health lessons learned during the 1918-1919 pandemic and reflects on their relevance for the present.
西班牙流感在美国传播时，新形式的大众交通工具、大众媒体、大众消费和大众战争极大地扩大了传染病传播的公共场所。面对一种致命的“人群”疾病，公共卫生当局试图以前所未有的强度实施社交距离措施。最近的历史研究表明，早期和持续实施集会禁令、学校关闭和其他社交距离措施，显著降低了 1918-1919 年流行期间的死亡率。这一发现使得了解对这些措施的抵制来源变得更加重要，尤其是因为社交距离措施仍然是管理当前 H1N1 流感大流行的重要工具。为此，本历史分析回顾了在 1918-1919 年大流行期间吸取的公共卫生教训，并思考了这些教训对当前的相关性。
