Category: Pandemics & Society Seminars

Rick J. Mourits, International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, presents on: “Occupational characteristics and spatial inequalities in mortality during 1918-9 influenza pandemic in the Netherlands”

Other authors: Auke Rijpma, Ruben Schalk, Ingrid K. van Dijk, Richard L. Zijdeman

Send e-mail to masv@oslomet.no to get the Zoom-link

Blurb: More than a century ago, the 1918-9 influenza pandemic swept across the globe and took the lives of over 50 million people. When the pandemic finally subsided in 1919, the “Spanish” influenza pandemic had taken over 50 million lives worldwide. A century later it is still not fully understood how socioeconomic differences affected the mortality risk. Multiple studies have found no straightforward relation between socioeconomic status and mortality rates during the 1918-9 pandemic. We argue that this is no surprise, as the mechanisms affecting the health gradient by socioeconomic status observed today were generally not helpful in the 1918-9 influenza pandemic. Social status gives individuals the opportunity to more optimally avoid getting ill, resist infections, and be cured diseases (Johansson, 2000). However, two of these three resources – resistance and cures – were little or not available during the 1918-9 influenza pandemic. However, occupational and spatial differences in exposure may have mattered in determining individual mortality risk.  In this work we use data from the Dutch civil registry to explore the influence of occupational characteristics including exposure to others at work and whether or not work occurred in an enclosed space as well as regional mortality differences. Findings suggest that occupational characteristics affected the likelihood of infection and mortality within the autumn wave, both in less-hit municipalities and the strongest-hit municipalities. Taken together, our findings suggest a stronger socioeconomic pattern in the pandemic than suggested by previous literature.

https://hioa365-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/jara_oslomet_no/EXbLH–S7FdNsRO7t_M647UBiQtbcalZJ_JoFjBXHXSPmA?e=hzaZcr

Blurb: One year ago, many European countries including Denmark went into an unprecedented lockdown.  So far we have been able to suppress transmission of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus to such an extent that less than 1 in 10 Danes have been infected so far.  And in a few months we will all be offered one of the highly effective COVID-19 vaccines that became available in record time.  Is that then the end of the pandemic? I will first discuss the knowns about the COVID-19 pandemic. First, about the collaboration with Kim Sneppen at the NBI regarding the phenomenon of superspreading, and modeling how this defining feature of the virus turns out to be an Achilles heel of the virus that has allowed effective suppression of epidemics of the virus while we waited for a vaccine.  Using Denmark as a case, I will consider the magnitude of the catastrophe that we managed to avoid so far.  Finally I will discuss accumulating data on the effectiveness of the vaccines, and discuss at various scenarios regarding our future life with COVID-19 in the vaccine era and the critical unknowns that cloud our view.

PANSOC Pandemic Influenza March 2021 Public.pptx (sharepoint.com)

Please find the talk given by Professor Siddharth Chandra, Michigan State University, 18th March, on the Demographic impacts of the 1918 influenza pandemic, here:

https://hioa365-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/jara_oslomet_no/EUuTQIqSp3lMo_BZwNF3apEBnW698JK7hYC9WeRsmMMA3A?e=0AmYsI

The Q&A session can be found here:

https://hioa365-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/jara_oslomet_no/EVv1wx0TWV1FhUe4GaNPmtgBxRg4_mNnmOa7egrAlsuUcQ?e=5p8J9U

On the 25th of March (16:00-17:00 CET), Professor Lone Simonsen, Roskilde University, will present on “The First Year of the COVID-19 Pndemic” at the 4th PANSOC webinar this spring.

Send e-mail to masv@oslomet.no if you wish to participate in this webinar.

Blurb: One year ago, many European countries including Denmark went into an unprecedented lockdown.  So far we have been able to suppress transmission of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus to such an extent that less than 1 in 10 Danes have been infected so far.  And in a few months we will all be offered one of the highly effective COVID-19 vaccines that became available in record time.  Is that then the end of the pandemic? I will first discuss the knowns about the COVID-19 pandemic. First, about the collaboration with Kim Sneppen at the NBI regarding the phenomenon of superspreading, and modeling how this defining feature of the virus turns out to be an Achilles heel of the virus that has allowed effective suppression of epidemics of the virus while we waited for a vaccine.  Using Denmark as a case, I will consider the magnitude of the catastrophe that we managed to avoid so far.  Finally I will discuss accumulating data on the effectiveness of the vaccines, and discuss at various scenarios regarding our future life with COVID-19 in the vaccine era and the critical unknowns that cloud our view.

Professor Siddharth Chandra, Michigan State University will present on this exciting topic Thursday March 18 (16:00-1700 CET).

Please send us an e-mail for the zoom-link at masv@oslomet.no

Blurb: The 1918 influenza pandemic had a profound impact on populations around the world. This presentation highlights research on pandemic impacts on various aspects of key demographic aggregates in various parts of the world. These include estimating the demographic toll of the pandemic in the absence of reliable birth and death registration data, the timing and magnitude of waves of infection and mortality, the age structure of mortality during the pandemic, and impacts of the pandemic on births and maternal health. Where relevant, lessons are drawn for understanding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.    

For those who could not attend the first webinar this spring, please see the recorded video from the meeting with Joel Floris on the “Pandemic Gap” here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18iupIzaycRoq9A6-s8Cp3bCnXNY2y2Jg/view?usp=sharing

The second of nine PANSOC webinars this spring will convene on 11^th March: Jessica Dimka, S-E Mamelund and Nan Zou Bakkeli, all at Oslo Metropolitan University, will present on “The role of SES in adopting non-pharmaceutical interventions during the first wave of COVID-19 in Norway

Please send e-mail to masv@oslomet.no to get the ZOOM-link for the webinar

Blurb: In the absence of antiviral medications and vaccines to fight the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 governments had to respond by relying on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to control the disease burden. Socioeconomic inequalities likely influenced the ability or willingness of individuals to adopt these measures in both private and work contexts. Using survey data from a representative sample of the Norwegian working population, we study to what extent socioeconomic status as measured by income was a significant predictor of more handwashing, keeping 1m distance from others, using protective equipment such as masks, more use of home office, and less use of public transportation in a private and work context during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter and spring of 2020. With the exception of using protective equipment and using less public transportation in a private context, all analyzed NPIs showed a clear and independent positive association with income controlling for age, sex, region and education. Social disparities in adopting central public health measures suggested by governments may be important drivers for higher risks of infection, hospitalization and mortality for people of lower socioeconomic status, as documented in Norway and several countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For ZOOM-link to each of the seminars, please e-mail us at: masv@oslomet.no

25^th February: Joel Floris & Kaspar Staub, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM), University of Zurich: The “Pandemic Memory Gap”

11^th March 11: Jessica Dimka and S-E Mamelund, both at Oslo Metropolitan University: “The role of SES in adopting non-pharmaceutical interventions during the first wave of COVID-19 in Norway”

18^th March: Siddharth Chandra, Michigan State University, USA: “Demographic impacts of the 1918 influenza pandemic”

25th March: Lone Simonsen, Roskilde University, Denmark: “The First Year of the COVID-19 pandemic”

15^th April: Rick J. Mourits, International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam, the Netherlands: “Occupational characteristics and spatial inequalities in mortality during 1918-9 influenza pandemic in the Netherlands”

22^nd April: Lisa Sattenspiel, University of Missouri, USA: “Comparing COVID-19 and the 1918 flu in rural vs. urban counties of Missouri”.

29^th April: Taylor Paskoff University of Missouri, USA: “Determinants of post-1918 influenza pandemic tuberculosis mortality in Newfoundland”.

6^th May: Gerardo Chowell-Puente, Georgia State University, USA: “Comparative analysis of excess mortality patterns during pandemics in Arizona and Mexico”.

20^th May: Jessica Dimka, Oslo Metropolitan University: “Disability, Institutionalization, and the 1918 Flu Pandemic: From Historical Records to Simulation Models”. (1600-1730 CET)

10th June: Prof. Erica Charters, University of Oxford, “How epidemics ends”.