Influenza

Author: Jeremy Brown
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Atria Books, 2018
Pages: 272
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: On the 100th anniversary of the devastation pandemic of 1918, Jeremy Brown, a veteran ER doctor, explores the troubling, terrifying, and complex history of the flu virus, from the origins of the Great Flu that killed millions, to vexing questions such as: are we prepared for the next epidemic, should you get a flu shot, and how close are we to finding a cure?

While influenza is now often thought of as a common and mild disease, it still kills over 30,000 people in the US each year. Dr. Jeremy Brown, currently Director of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health, expounds on the flu's deadly past to solve the mysteries that could protect us from the next outbreak. In Influenza, he talks with leading epidemiologists, policy makers, and the researcher who first sequenced the genetic building blocks of the original 1918 virus to offer both a comprehensive history and a roadmap for understanding what's to come.

Dr. Brown digs into the discovery and resurrection of the flu virus in the frozen victims of the 1918 epidemic, as well as the bizarre remedies that once treated the disease, such as whiskey and blood-letting. Influenza also breaks down the current dialogue surrounding the disease, explaining the controversy over vaccinations, antiviral drugs like Tamiflu, and the federal government's role in preparing for pandemic outbreaks. Through 100 years of advancement in medical research and technology have passed since the 1918 disaster, Dr. Brown warns that many of the most vital questions about the flu virus continue to confound even the leading experts.

Review: This book interested me on two fronts. First, as a mom. Flu vaccines are a hot topic every year in the various mom groups in which I participate. To vaccinate or not to vaccinate. After nearly 13 years in this role :-), I just go with my gut every year and vaccinate, but I don't know if that's the right thing to do or not.

Secondly, my grandmother was born in March 1918, and I enjoy reading books that are set or discuss issues of the world during her formative years. She was oldest girl, but not the oldest child in her family so I like to imagine what the world would have looked like then. What did my great-grandmother think having a 6 month old when the flu first broke out. At any rate, they were fortunate enough to not lose immediate family members in that pandemic.

This was interesting listening, and I feel like I learned "something."