5 September Seminar: What can we learn from historical pandemics?
For the first Pandemics & Society Seminar of our Fall 2024 series, we are pleased to welcome Áine Doran (Ulster University). The seminar will be held on Thursday, 5 September at the normal time (1600 CEST). More information about our speaker and the presentation is below. You can sign up for email notifications about the seminar series, including the Zoom details, here.
The paper has been published in Social Science & Medicine and is available here.
Abstract
What are the insights from historical pandemics for policymaking today? We carry out a systematic review of the literature on the impact of pandemics that occurred since the Industrial Revolution and prior to Covid-19. Our literature searches were conducted between June 2020 and September 2023, with the final review encompassing 169 research papers selected for their relevance to understanding either the demographic or economic impact of pandemics. We include literature from across disciplines to maximise our knowledge base, finding many relevant articles in journals which would not normally be on the radar of social scientists. Our review identifies two gaps in the literature: (1) the need to study pandemics and their effects more collectively rather than looking at them in isolation; and (2) the need for more study of pandemics besides 1918 Spanish Influenza, especially milder pandemic episodes. These gaps are a consequence of academics working in silos, failing to draw on the skills and knowledge offered by other disciplines. Synthesising existing knowledge on pandemics in one place provides a basis upon which to identify the lessons in preparing for future catastrophic disease events.
About the Speaker
Áine Doran (PhD, QUB) is a Lecturer in Economics at Ulster University. Her research focuses on Economic History, primarily in the areas of demography, living standards and development. Her PhD is entitled ‘Pandemics, Poverty and Population: Essays in Economic History’. One part of the thesis studies 19th century Ireland with the aim of better understanding the context and causes of the Irish Famine. The second area of study is understanding pandemics which have occurred in the last 100 years and both the economic and demographic impact they had. Along with academic conferences, Áine has spoken about her work at both public events and government departments.
Sabbatical: Social science meets Biology
Centre leader Mamelund will stay 5 weeks at University of Brisbane 1st of September to October 4th. Purpose of the stay is to learn more from our partners doing wet-lab studies including mouse models and studies of century old extra-respiratory tissues taken from victims of historical influenza pandemics (Prof. Kirsty Short). Mamelund’s sabbatical is funded by a CAS Alumni-Fellowship. This fellowship is something you can apply to get as a former recipient of a CAS project as the one Mamelund lead from 2022-23 – se more here: Social Science Meets Biology | CAS (cas-nor.no)
Invited Keynote: Old data gives new clues to the “mother” of all pandemics
Centre leader Mamelund is invited to hold a keynote at OPTIONS XII in Brisbane, Australia 29 Sep to October 2nd: Keynote Speakers | OPTIONS XII 2024 | OPTIONS XII Event | OPTIONS 2024 Brisbane | Influenza Congress. You can download the whole program here: Options XII Program 3 July.xlsx
Announcing the Fall 2024 Pandemics & Society Seminar Series
We are pleased to release the schedule for our Fall 2024 seminar series. As in previous series, the seminar will be held via Zoom at 16.00 Central European Time on Thursdays.
To access the Zoom meetings, please join our mailing list here.
5 September
What can we learn from historical pandemics? A systematic review of the literature
Áine Doran, Ulster University
19 September
How germs shaped history
Jonathan Kennedy, Queen Mary University of London
3 October
Wages and inequality in the Middle Ages: Moving beyond the average
Spike Gibbs, Universität Mannheim
10 October
Democracy, Mortality, and COVID-19: A Cross-Regional Comparison of Excess Mortality Data in Post-Communist Countries of the EU and CIS
Umit Tleshova, Charles University
31 October
Covid-19 is (Probably) Not an Exogenous Shock or Valid Instrument
Jeff Clement, Augsburg University
**Note that Central European Summer Time ends on 27 October**
7 November
Projecting the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. population structure
Andrea Tilstra, University of Oxford
14 November
Racialized Epidemiologies: The Case of Black Americans During the Great Influenza, 1918–1920
Paul Skäbe, Universität Leipzig
21 November
Excess Mortality in Mainland China after the End of the “Zero COVID” Policy: A Systematic Review of Literature
Isaac Fung, Georgia Southern University
5 December
The Impact of the First Wave of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic on the French and German Armies on the Western Front of the First World War
Srijita Pal, University of Southern California
New Paper: Comparative analysis of COVID-19 diagnoses and mortality among hospitalized indigenous and non-indigenous populations in Chile: 2020–2021
This new paper is part of our 2022-23 Centre for Advanced Study – CAS project: https://cas-nor.no/project/social-science-meets-biology
Background
Current literature presents mixed effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous communities. We aim to highlight potential disparities and temporal shifts in both the impact of COVID-19 and vaccine uptake among hospitalized Indigenous populations in Chile.
Methods
We conducted an observational analysis utilizing 1,598,492 hospitalization records from 2020 to 2021 based on publicly accessible hospital discharge data spanning 65 healthcare facilities of medium and high complexity funded through the Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) mechanism in Chile, representing roughly 70% of the country’s total hospitalizations. This was supplemented with publicly available municipal data on COVID-19 vaccinations and socio-demographic variables. We performed logistic regression analysis at 0.05 level of significance to assess the bivariate and multivariable association of Indigenous status with COVID-19 diagnosis and COVID-19 deaths among hospitalized populations. We also performed univariate and multiple linear regression to assess the association of COVID-19 vaccination rate and Indigenous status at the municipality level. In addition, we report the distribution of top 10 secondary diagnoses among hospitalized COVID-19 cases and deaths separately for Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations.
Results
Indigenous populations displayed lower adjusted odds for both COVID-19 diagnosis (OR: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.74, 0.77) and death (OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.97) when compared to non-Indigenous groups. Notably, the adjusted odds ratio for COVID-19 diagnosis in Indigenous populations rose from 0.59 (95% CI: 0.57, 0.61) in 2020 to 1.17 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.21) in 2021. Factors such as the significantly higher median age and greater number of comorbidities in the non-Indigenous hospitalized groups could account for their increased odds of COVID-19 diagnosis and mortality. Additionally, our data indicates a significantly negative adjusted association between COVID-19 vaccination rates and the proportion of Indigenous individuals.
Conclusion
Although Indigenous populations initially showed lower odds of COVID-19 diagnosis and mortality, a marked rise in diagnosis odds among these groups in 2021 underscores the urgency of targeted interventions. The observed negative association between the proportion of Indigenous populations and vaccination rates further underscores the necessity to tackle vaccine access barriers and work towards equitable distribution.
Ny kronikk: Et møte som kunne ha vært en e-post?Ny kronikk:
På PANSOC er administrative møter erstattet med daglig og tett interaksjon, og kanskje en og annen e-post. Teams bruker vi ikke. Hvordan gjøres det hos dere og særlig på andre forskningsintensive enheter med 5-15 ansatte?
Les mer om hvordan vi jobber her: Et møte som kunne ha vært en e-post? (khrono.no)
PANSOC Guest lecture:
On November 6th, Dr. Adolfo García-Sastre (Mount Sinai, New York) will be giving a lecture at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters as a guest at Centre for Research on Pandemics
& Society (PANSOC) at OsloMet.
Would you like to participate? Please use this link to register: https://nettskjema.no/a/pansoc6nov
Ny kronikk: Hva er god forskningsledelse?
Senterleder Mamelund om “Oppskriften på en god forskningsleder (forskerforum.no).” Opprinnelig tittel på kronikken var “Sunn forskningsledelse” – her har redaktøren tatt seg frihet til å skifte tittelen 🙂
New Research Assitant: Lewhat Arefaine Kifleyesus
We are proud to welcome and present our new research assistant, Lewhat Arefaine Kifleyesus.
Lewhat Arefaine Kifleyesus holds a bachelor’s degree in law. With a background as a legal professional in various sectors, including the Ministry of Justice, her journey has taken an exciting turn since moving to Norway. She chose to dive into a master’s program in International Social Welfare and Health Policy at OsloMet, driven by a desire to blend her legal expertise with a deep interest in health policy.
This academic path has opened unique opportunities, most notably the chance to work as a research assistant with PANSOC through OsloMet’s elective course in research training. Kifleyesus is currently engaged in an impactful project on “Disparities in COVID-19 Impact and Vaccination Timing Among Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Populations in Mexico.” This research is crucial in identifying the unique vulnerabilities faced by Indigenous communities, with the ultimate goal of developing more inclusive and resilient public health systems.
In Kifleyesus own words “The experience of working with leading experts like Svenn-Erik Mamelund, Gerardo Chowell-Puente, and Elienai Joaquín Damas at PANSOC has been truly enriching. I am deeply grateful for the support and mentorship provided by PANSOC. While contributing to important research, it allows me to grow both academically and professionally. This opportunity is helping me sharpen my research skills while strengthening my commitment to making a meaningful impact in health policy.
The collaboration between OsloMet and PANSOC is truly commendable, offering students like me unparalleled opportunities to engage in research that is both academically rigorous and socially relevant.
I am honored to be part of a program that is shaping the future of public health, and I look forward to continuing this journey with the incredible support of PANSOC”.