Centre for Research on Pandemics & Society (PANSOC)
An OsloMet Centre of Research Excellence studying the societal aspects of pandemics
HISTORIE: Trodde du Svartedauden tok slutt på 1300-tallet? Først da maktstaten kom på 1600-tallet, fikk Europa kontroll på pesten.
SENTRALT STED: Ole Georg Moseng er forfatter av boken «Pesten kommer». Han tar oss med til kirkegården like ved Gamle Deichman hovedbibliotek, der ofrene for den siste pesten i 1654 ble stedt til hvile. (Erlend Berge)
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PANSOC has just hosted the second NHDM. The first NHDM was held in Trondheim 1-2 December 2019. The planned meetings in 2020 and 2021 were postponed due to COVID-19, but was held this rime on Zoom 17-18 January and planned and organized by PANSOC. Carla Huges, Christina Stylegar, Jessica Dimka and Svenn-Erik Mamelund were PANSOC members presenting, see program below:
PROGRAM:
Monday 17 January
12:00-12:15 Opening by Svenn-Erik Mamelund (OsloMet)
12:15-13:00 Missing Girls
13:00-13:45 Influenza
13:45-14:00 Break
14:15-15:00 Social mobility
Tuesday 18 January
09:00-09:45 Missing Girls
09:45-10:30 Influenza
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:00 Causes of death, social class and living conditions
12:00 Closing by Svenn-Erik Mamelund (OsloMet)
I et nytt intervju i Sosiologen.no oppsummerer senterleder Svenn-Erik Mamelund forskning som PANSOC har gjort på sosial ulikhet i hvem som har kunnet etterkomme smitteverntiltak, tilfredshet med livet og konsevenser av av pandemien for arbeidslivet.
Les mer her:–Sosialt sårbare bør også prioriteres i vaksinefordeling – Sosiologen
The new paper is published in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, see here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14034948211060635
This study aimed to estimate the size of the risk group for severe influenza and to describe the social patterning of the influenza risk group in Norway, defined as everyone ⩾65 years of age and individuals of any age with certain chronic conditions (medical risk group).
Study data came from a nationally representative survey among 10,923 individuals aged 16–79 years. The medical risk group was defined as individuals reporting one or more relevant chronic conditions. The associations between educational attainment, employment status, age and risk of belonging to the medical risk group were studied with logistic regression.
Nearly a fifth (19.0%) of respondents reported at least one chronic condition, while 29.4% belonged to the influenza risk group due to either age or chronic conditions. Being older, having a low educational level (comparing compulsory education to higher education, odds ratio (OR)=1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–1.8 among women, and OR=1.3, 95% CI 1.1–1.7 among men) and a weaker connection to working life (comparing disability pension to working full-time, OR=6.8, 95% CI 5.3–8.7 among women, and OR=6.5, 95% CI 4.9–8.5 among men) was associated with a higher risk of belonging to the medical risk group for severe influenza.
This study indicates that the prevalence of medical risk factors for severe influenza is disproportionally distributed across the socio-economic spectrum in Norway. These results should influence both public funding decisions regarding influenza vaccination and communication strategies towards the public and health professionals.
Catch up with the video from the last webinar, “A Digital History Approach to Analyzing Memories of the 1918 Flu Pandemic,” presented by John Eicher:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e6JIeH8keW1o1xVFYKr8fGbqhCEw_922/view?usp=sharing
And all past webinars are available here:
At PANSOC we now have a Call for Expression of Interest for a joint application in pandemic studies under the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme – Call: MSCA-PF-2022.
Please see the call text here https://oslomet.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:459651/ and watch our recruitment video below:
We are delighted to announce the spring webinar series. All talks will be held Thursdays at 1600 CET unless otherwise noted. Please contact jessicad@oslomet.no if you need a link.
27 January: Christina Torjussen, University of South-Eastern Norway and PANSOC, “Kong Sverre – The Death Ship.”
3 February: Chinmay Tumbe, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, “India and 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Mortality Estimates and Correlates.”
10 February: Binoy Kampmark, RMIT University Melbourne, “‘Killing cockroaches with a nuclear weapon’: The Victorian Pandemic Management Bill.”
24 February, 1400 CET: David Roth, The Australian National University, “The effects of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic on mental patients in New South Wales – Work-In-Progress.”
10 March: Tamara Giles-Vernick, Institut Pasteur: “Complex local vulnerabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic in France.” (Rescheduled from fall)
17 March: Margarida Pereira, PANSOC, “The 2020 Syndemic of Obesity and COVID-19 in an Urbanized World.”
31 March: Lianne Tripp, University of Northern British Columbia: “The 1918/19 Influenza: Hidden Heterogeneity in an Island Population.” (Rescheduled from fall)
7 April: Amanda Wissler, University of South Carolina & Cleveland Museum of Natural History, “The Long-Term Impacts of Pandemic Disease: Health and Survival after the 1918 Influenza Pandemic.”
21 April: Jord Hanus, University of Antwerp, “Socioeconomic Status and Epidemic Mortality in an Urban Environment: Mechelen (Belgium), 1600-1900”
28 April: Vibeke Narverud Nyborg, University of South-Eastern Norway and PANSOC, The exploration of state health legislations as possible driving forces to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the 1918 pandemic in different Norwegian regions.”
5 May: Ben Schneider, TBA
12 May: Carolyn Orbann, University of Missouri, “Co-circulating respiratory diseases at the end of the 1918 influenza pandemic.”
In this invited paper for the 75 years of Population Studies diamond anniversary special issue, Svenn-Erik Mamelund and Jessica Dimka discuss the mechanisms (differential exposure, susceptibility, and consequences) underlying the mortality and morbidity disparities by socio-economic status and race/ethnicity in the 1918 flu and COVID-19 pandemics, emphasizing the tendency of pandemics to inflate pre-existing health disparities through these means. The authors use both historical and contemporary data and they make the case for thinking about the reduction of health disparities as an important pandemic preparedness strategy. Read full paper here:
Christina Stylegar Torjussen er masterstudent ved Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge med Ole Georg Moseng som veileder, og Christina er også assosiert med PANSOC på OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University. Hun skriver en svært spennede masteroppgave om utbrudd av spanskesyken på Kong-Sverre hvor andelen av de syke rekruttene som døde var 27 prosent mens samme andelen blant unge voksne sivile var 2 prosent. Les mer her:
Skriv masteroppgåve om «dødsskipet» i Horten – Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge (usn.no)
