Tambolkar Sampada, Pustake Manas, Giri Purushottam, Tambolkar Isha
Department of Pediatrics, Dr D.Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Center and Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Department of Internal Medicine, Grant Government Medical College and Sir J. J Group of Hospitals, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 May;11(5):1642-1647. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1612_21!. Epub 2022 May 14.
The similarity of the consequences of COVID-19 reminded us of the destruction caused by the Spanish flu over a century ago and led us to find similarities in the way the two pandemics were handled. PRISMA Guideline was followed for a systematic search to identify eligible published articles. Information about the public health measures adopted during both the pandemics was taken from literature. It was found that there are parallels between the two pandemics in terms of general unpreparedness, attitudes of the community and government, and various policy issues. All the measures implemented in 2020 were the same as those implemented in 1918-1919, with the same trend, uncertainty, early relaxing, and rapid reversals. Even from a scientific standpoint, all the elements were already known. All the issues such as social isolation, intra-family spread, personal protective equipment, medicine types (quinine, aspirin, anti-inflammatories, etc.), immunization requirements, and so on had already been addressed. No doubt, we do have technology today at our disposal for managing the spread of the disease and even spread awareness among people much easily. We also have taken many steps forward in the world of globalization, which make the progression and spread of the pandemic very fast as well. Both factors tend to counter each other and hence make timely public health intervention as important (if not more) today as it was yesterday. When possible, approaches and goals should be found on scientific facts and include ethical input. Finally, we must take careful notice of past local and national lessons to avoid repeating the mistakes done in the past. The development of a strategy ahead of time that includes all levels of government health infrastructure and outlines clear lines of duties and functions is critical. The main objective of this article was to compare the public health measures undertaken during the pandemic of Spanish Flu and the pandemic of COVID-19, and assess the similarities and differences in the public health measures taken during these pandemics. The correlation of the public health measures and the outcomes was assessed and the implication of this article was to be pandemic-ready in the future.
新冠疫情后果的相似性让我们想起了一个多世纪前西班牙流感造成的破坏，并促使我们去寻找这两场大流行应对方式上的相似之处。我们遵循PRISMA指南进行系统检索，以确定符合条件的已发表文章。两场大流行期间采取的公共卫生措施信息均取自文献。结果发现，在总体准备不足、社区和政府态度以及各种政策问题方面，两场大流行存在相似之处。2020年实施的所有措施与1918 - 1919年实施的措施相同，有着相同的趋势、不确定性、过早放松以及迅速逆转。即使从科学角度来看，所有要素当时都已为人所知。诸如社交隔离、家庭内部传播、个人防护装备、药物类型（奎宁、阿司匹林、抗炎药等）、免疫要求等等所有问题当时都已得到解决。毫无疑问，如今我们确实拥有可用于控制疾病传播甚至更轻松地在民众中传播意识的技术。我们在全球化领域也向前迈进了许多步，这也使得大流行的发展和传播非常迅速。这两个因素往往相互抵消，因此及时的公共卫生干预如今（如果不是更）和过去一样重要。在可能的情况下，应基于科学事实找到方法和目标，并纳入伦理考量。最后，我们必须认真吸取过去地方和国家层面的教训，避免重蹈覆辙。提前制定一项涵盖各级政府卫生基础设施并明确职责和功能界限的战略至关重要。本文的主要目的是比较西班牙流感大流行和新冠大流行期间采取的公共卫生措施，并评估这些大流行期间所采取公共卫生措施的异同。评估公共卫生措施与结果的相关性，本文的意义在于为未来应对大流行做好准备。
