Comparative epidemiology between the 2009 H1N1 influenza and COVID-19 pandemics

Vivaldo Gomes da Costa; Marielena Vogel Saivish; Dhullya Eduarda Resende Santos; Rebeca Francielle de Lima Silva; Marcos Lázaro Moreli

doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2020.09.023

Comparative epidemiology between the 2009 H1N1 influenza and COVID-19 pandemics

J Infect Public Health. 2020 Dec;13(12):1797-1804. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.09.023. Epub 2020 Oct 13.

Authors

Vivaldo Gomes da Costa¹, Marielena Vogel Saivish², Dhullya Eduarda Resende Santos², Rebeca Francielle de Lima Silva², Marcos Lázaro Moreli²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cellular Biology, University of Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil; Special Academic Unit of Health Sciences, Federal University of Jataí, Jataí, GO, Brazil. Electronic address: vivbiom@gmail.com.
² Special Academic Unit of Health Sciences, Federal University of Jataí, Jataí, GO, Brazil.

Abstract

In a short time, humanity has experienced two pandemics: the influenza A virus pandemic (pH1N1) in 2009 and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. Therefore, it is likely that the general population will erroneously seek to compare the two pandemics and adopt similar attitudes in facing them. However, the two pandemics have their intrinsic characteristics that distinguish them considerably; for example, the virulence of the infectious agents and the availability of treatment and vaccine. Consequently, given this knowledge gap between the pH1N1 and COVID-19 pandemics, we conducted this review to clarify and summarize, above all, the epidemiological historical aspects of these two viruses of great importance to global public health.

Keywords: 2009 H1N1 pandemic; COVID-19 pandemic; Emerging viruses; Global epidemics; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19 / epidemiology*
Epidemics
Global Health
Humans
Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype*
Influenza, Human / epidemiology*
SARS-CoV-2*