The article "Pandemic influenza in Korea with special references to its etiology," published in JAMA in April, 1919 by Dr. Frank William Schofield, is a valuable material reflecting the influenza pandemic situation in 1918 in Korea. It contains the case reports of influenza infected patients and the results of the bacteriological experiments. Dr. Schofield worked as a bacteriology professor in Severance Union Medical College in Seoul from 1916 to 1920. His academic activities are lesser-known than the role of contributor of Korean independent movement. However, he was a remarkable veterinarian and scientist. According to Dr. Schofield, the number of Influenza infected population in Korea in 1918 was supposed to be 4,000,000 to 8,000,000, which corresponds with other resources(6.7 per 1,000 in Gangwon province). Considering the cases which were not registered as influenza infection by misdiagnosis of pneumonia complication the sum should be higher. However, the estimated crude influenza death rate from the reports by the Japanese colonial government was only 2.38(per 1,000). Dr. Schofield and his colleague tried to culture "Pfeiffer Bacillus" from the sputum and blood specimens of patients showing typical influenza symptoms. The bacterium was mistakenly considered as the influenza agent till the virological nature of influenza was discovered in the 1930s. From the results of his study he seemed to agree that "filterable virus" was the influenza agent and the secondary infection of the bacillus caused respiratory symptoms. He also reported on the influenza vaccination during the epidemics. Dr. Schofield's article confirms that the damage caused by the influenza outbreak in Korea was as great as in other Asian countries or even worse. It also gives information about the researches and education on the etiology and vaccination of influenza based on the germ theory in the medical colleges in Korea, which adopted the western medical educational system in the early 20th century.
Disease Outbreaks/*history ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Influenza Vaccines/history ; Influenza, Human/epidemiology/*history/mortality ; Korea/epidemiology ; Vaccination/history

Despite many countries' current effort to make mathematical models for pandemic influenza (PI) and predict the impact of an outbreak, natural history of PI is remains incomplete, so that any assumption or model is unable to completely predict the impact. Our objective is to review and summarize previous studies on parameters and models of PI, and to make suggestions for the controls in order to decrease the impact of PI. We searched PubMed to retrieve literature about the PI model systematically . Reference lists and review papers on the topic were searched, as well. We found 35 articles that examined the PI model over the period of May 2003 to August 2008. We reviewed modelling methods that were focused on the PI, and their parameters i.e. latent period, and basic reproductive number (R0). Then, we summarized PI controls: antivirals, vaccines, and social distancing. Recent studies showed with mathematical models that Targeted Antiviral Prophylaxis (TAP) is the best strategy for containing PI at the source. In case of an outbreak, quick measures of social distancing, including therapeutic and prophylatic antiviral for cases and closing contacts - school closure, workplace closure, border quarantine, and home isolation - were found to be most effective. We reviewed strengths and weaknesses of models that are adaptable in Korea, and summarized their parameters. It is our hope that these strategies with various interventions give important information for future preparation for and response to PI in Korea.
Antiviral Agents ; Humans ; Influenza, Human ; Korea ; Models, Theoretical ; Natural History ; Pandemics ; Quarantine ; Vaccines

Fears of a potential pandemic due to A(H5N1) viruses have focussed new attention on our current vaccines, their shortcomings, and concerns regarding global vaccine supply in a pandemic. The bulk of current vaccines are inactivated split virus vaccines produced from egg-grown virus and have only modest improvements compared with those first introduced over 60 years ago. Splitting, which was introduced some years ago to reduce reactogenicity, also reduces the immunogenicity of vaccines in immunologically naïve recipients. The A(H5N1) viruses have been found poorly immunogenic and present other challenges for vaccine producers which further exacerbate an already limited global production capacity. There have been some recent improvements in vaccine production methods and improvements to immunogenicity by the development of new adjuvants, however, these still fall short of providing timely supplies of vaccine for all in the face of a pandemic. New approaches to influenza vaccines which might fulfil the demands of a pandemic situation are under evaluation, however, these remain some distance from clinical reality and face significant regulatory hurdles.
Animals ; Birds ; Disease Outbreaks ; prevention & control ; statistics & numerical data ; Global Health ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ; isolation & purification ; Influenza Vaccines ; history ; Influenza in Birds ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; World Health Organization