Hunting the 1918 Flu / / Kirsty E. Duncan.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Duncan, Kirsty E.,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2022]; ©2003
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (304 p.)

In 1918 the Spanish flu epidemic swept the world and killed an estimated 20 to 40 million people in just one year, more than the number that died during the four years of the First World War. To this day medical science has been at a loss to explain the Spanish flu's origin. Most virologists are convinced that sooner or later a similarly deadly flu virus will return with a vengeance; thus anything we can learn from the 1918 flu may save lives in a new epidemic.Responding to sustained interest in this medical mystery, Hunting the 1918 Flu presents a detailed account of Kirsty Duncan's experiences as she organized an international, multi-discipline scientific expedition to exhume the bodies of a group of Norwegian miners buried in Svalbard, all victims of the flu virus. Constant throughout is her determination to honour the Norwegian laws and the Svalbard customs that treat the dead and the living with respect - especially when a live virus, if unearthed, could kill millions. Another theme of the book is the author's growing love for Svalbard and its people. Duncan's narrative describes a large-scale medical project to uncover genetic material from the Spanish flu; it also reveals the turbulent politics of a group moving towards a goal where the egos were as strong as the stakes were high. The author, herself a medical geographer, is very frank about her bruising emotional, financial, and professional experiences on the 'dark side of science.'Duncan raises questions not only about public health, epidemiology, the ethics of science, and the rights of subjects, but also about the role of age, gender, and privilege in science. While her search for the virus has shown promising results, it has also revealed the dangers of science itself being subsumed in the rush for personal acclaim.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Figures -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: A Deadly Killer -- 1 The Spanish Influenza of 1918 -- Part One. An Evolving Team -- 2 The Quest 1992–1994 -- 3 Beneath the Crosses 1994–May 1996 -- 4 First Permission, First Workshop May–August 1996 -- 5 Archival Samples? CDC Withdraws August 1996 – June 1997 -- Part Two. Ground-Penetrating Radar -- 6 New Members and GPR Preparations June – October 1997 -- 7 Through the Ground Darkly October 1997 -- Part Three. Wrestling with Demons -- 8 Live Virus? October 1997–January 1998 -- 9 Mill Hill Meeting February 1998 -- 10 Is It Safe? February–April 1998 -- 11 Scientific Plan April–June 1998 -- 12 High Stakes April–August 1998 -- 13 Public Relations Plan May–July 1998 -- 14 Money Wars May–August 1998 -- Part Four Exhumations -- 15 Face to Face 16 August–5 September 1998 -- Part Five Decoding the Virus -- 16 Waiting for Results November 1998–October 1999 -- 17 Fighting for Norway, Fighting for Canada 11–16 November 1999 -- 18 Sharing Samples? November 1999–November 2000 -- Conclusion: Promises Kept -- Epilogue: Update -- References -- Index