UMICH launches flu pandemic site

UMICH launches flu pandemic site

Examining how communities in the United States coped with the 1918 flu pandemic could help public health planners in their preparations for the next flu pandemic, according to the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. The center has unveiled a web site of primary source materials covering the infamous 1918-1920 influenza pandemic.

"The web site is the result of a project funded by the federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency to identify and research a very important group of American communities. These are called escape communities, and they experienced extremely low morbidity and mortality rates during the 1918-1920 influenza epidemic," says Howard Markel, MD, PhD, George E. Wantz professor in history of medicine and the center's director.

The web site is organized around each of the seven escape communities.

It can be accessed at: www.med.umich.edu.