Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History
by Dr. Jeremy Brown
4 stars
Dr. Jeremy Brown’s book on the flu is easily accessible for non-medical experts. I didn’t learn until a few years ago that the flu shot was to protect against influenza which is totally separate from the stomach bug my mom called the flu when I was growing up. That was the extent of my flu knowledge. Dr. Brown takes the reader on a trip down memory lane to explain most of the mysteries of the flu virus that caused the Pandemic of 1918—although the real reason it was so devastating is still up to debate. Fortunately, the world has not had a flu outbreak that bad since.
Dr. Brown explains some flu epidemic flare ups and how governments around the world prepare for possible flu outbreaks. He also thrillingly describes the hunt to resurrect the 1918 virus from the preserved tissue of victims that were buried in permafrost. It is humbling to learn that despite many medical advancements against common ailments, the flu virus still eludes a cure.
Read-alikes
America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 by Alfred W. Crosby
Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It by Gina Bari Kolata
Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History by Catherine Arnold
