Risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study

BACKGROUND: Despite the persisting threat from future influenza pandemics, much is still unknown about the risk factors for death from such events, and especially for the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic. METHODS: A case–control study was performed to explore possible risk factors for death from pandemi...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Summers, Jennifer A, Stanley, James, Baker, Michael G, Wilson, Nick
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4181481/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24490663
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/irv.12228
_version_ 1782337379100524544
author Summers, Jennifer A
Stanley, James
Baker, Michael G
Wilson, Nick
author_facet Summers, Jennifer A
Stanley, James
Baker, Michael G
Wilson, Nick
author_sort Summers, Jennifer A
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Despite the persisting threat from future influenza pandemics, much is still unknown about the risk factors for death from such events, and especially for the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic. METHODS: A case–control study was performed to explore possible risk factors for death from pandemic influenza among New Zealand military personnel in the Northern Hemisphere in 1918–1919 (n = 218 cases, n = 221 controls). Data were compiled from a Roll-of-Honour dataset, a dataset of nearly all military personnel involved in the war and archived individual records. RESULTS: In the fully adjusted multivariable model, the following were significantly associated with increased risk of death from pandemic influenza: age (25–29 years), pre-pandemic hospitalisations for a chronic condition (e.g. tuberculosis), relatively early year of military deployment, a relatively short time from enlistment to foreign service, and having a larger chest size (e.g. adjusted odds ratio for 90–99 cm versus <90 cm was 2·45; 95% CI=1·47–4·10). There were no significant associations in the fully adjusted model with military rank, occupational class at enlistment, and rurality at enlistment. CONCLUSIONS: This is one of the first published case–control studies of mortality risk factors for the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic. Some of the findings are consistent with previous research on risk factors (such as chronic conditions and age groups), but others appear more novel (e.g., larger chest size). As all such historical analyses have limitations, there is a need for additional studies in other settings as archival World War One records become digitalised.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4181481
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2014
publisher Blackwell Publishing Ltd
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-41814812014-10-29 Risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study Summers, Jennifer A Stanley, James Baker, Michael G Wilson, Nick Influenza Other Respir Viruses Original Articles BACKGROUND: Despite the persisting threat from future influenza pandemics, much is still unknown about the risk factors for death from such events, and especially for the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic. METHODS: A case–control study was performed to explore possible risk factors for death from pandemic influenza among New Zealand military personnel in the Northern Hemisphere in 1918–1919 (n = 218 cases, n = 221 controls). Data were compiled from a Roll-of-Honour dataset, a dataset of nearly all military personnel involved in the war and archived individual records. RESULTS: In the fully adjusted multivariable model, the following were significantly associated with increased risk of death from pandemic influenza: age (25–29 years), pre-pandemic hospitalisations for a chronic condition (e.g. tuberculosis), relatively early year of military deployment, a relatively short time from enlistment to foreign service, and having a larger chest size (e.g. adjusted odds ratio for 90–99 cm versus <90 cm was 2·45; 95% CI=1·47–4·10). There were no significant associations in the fully adjusted model with military rank, occupational class at enlistment, and rurality at enlistment. CONCLUSIONS: This is one of the first published case–control studies of mortality risk factors for the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic. Some of the findings are consistent with previous research on risk factors (such as chronic conditions and age groups), but others appear more novel (e.g., larger chest size). As all such historical analyses have limitations, there is a need for additional studies in other settings as archival World War One records become digitalised. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2014-05 2014-02-03 /pmc/articles/PMC4181481/ /pubmed/24490663 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/irv.12228 Text en © 2014 The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Summers, Jennifer A
Stanley, James
Baker, Michael G
Wilson, Nick
Risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study
title Risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study
title_full Risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study
title_fullStr Risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study
title_full_unstemmed Risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study
title_short Risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study
title_sort risk factors for death from pandemic influenza in 1918–1919: a case–control study
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4181481/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24490663
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/irv.12228
work_keys_str_mv AT summersjennifera riskfactorsfordeathfrompandemicinfluenzain19181919acasecontrolstudy
AT stanleyjames riskfactorsfordeathfrompandemicinfluenzain19181919acasecontrolstudy
AT bakermichaelg riskfactorsfordeathfrompandemicinfluenzain19181919acasecontrolstudy
AT wilsonnick riskfactorsfordeathfrompandemicinfluenzain19181919acasecontrolstudy