Influenza

The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

By: Dr. Jeremy Brown

Narrated by: Holter Graham

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

On the 100th anniversary of the devastating 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. Though 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.

Influenza is an enlightening and unnerving look at a shapeshifting deadly virus that has been around long before people - and warns us that it may be many more years before we are able to conquer it for good.

©2018 Dr. Jeremy Brown (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Prophetic

Not every author gets to hear their prophecies fulfilled, but Dr. Brown certainly has. This is a great read to fill in the background on how we got to where we are in April 2020.

Fascinating

I bought this book in 2018 when it was published, but never got around to listening to it. Reading it now in light of our current pandemic is fascinating. So much of what he describes, the stockpiles, the effect on the economy, and the modeling, financial and otherwise, is almost exactly what is happening today. The one thing I think he got wrong was the capability of our politicians and governments to properly steer us through the crisis. Their competence was over estimated.

The book is well written and easy to listen to. The epilogue was very interesting. As the author is an emergency physician, his opinions are well worth th listen.

great

great history on the flu, and the quest to find a workable treatment. I did this book in 1.5 days.

I loved this book. I learned so much.

Dr Brown takes complex subjects and makes them so easy to understand. I love how he explains or repeated mistakes from the 1918 pandemic to now and that while our knowledge and technical capabilities have come a long way, the virus still beats us yearly. I really understand the mutation in antigenic drifting and shift,he makes it so easy to get I now am going to be following flu outbreaks with flutrackers.com

Influenza still kills,only the Covid went pandemic

investigation, medical, historical-research, historical-places-events, historical-figures, pandemic *****

I'm not certain who will benefit most from this book. The very beginning could be quite off putting to the general public while paramedicals like me are entranced. Lots of it is easily comprehensible to most, while some sections might make some folks glassy eyed. Yet you ask why I recommend it to everyone.
Simple. Historians, research minded, descendants, patients, and those in paramedical fields will benefit from the research and perspectives laid out in this book. Whether you want to know how influenza traveled, why this particular strain is not freely active, how vaccines are developed, what treatments were used throughout history for the illness and if/when some were finally discarded, and just why the grandmothers were right about dosing with chicken soup, you will find your answers here.
I had the grandest time reading this one, and I have read a number of others, because of the logical way that sections are organized as well as some areas having a slightly different perspective than some others. I hope that many others will at least learn a lot from it.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Touchstone/Simon and Schuster Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!
Now I have a permanent audio copy! Narrated by the incomparable Holter Graham, no less!

Very Interesting and Informative

If you are here during the COVID19 pandemic seeking answers then you have come to the right place. No it doesn’t discuss the current pandemic but it does explain a lot of underlying issues and how these types of illnesses remain uncured and why they are so deadly.

Accessible Science

Interesting, informative, and well-written as well as wee-narrated
I learned quite a lot about flu and its treatment

Influenza

Excellent! I totally enjoyed this book.The information and the story are worth the listen.It is hard to believe that people 100 years ago were just as stupid as they are today,but they were!Conspiracy theories were there in every wave!

Important read

A complex problem clearly explained with suggestions for further research and solutions. Surprisingly very entertaining.

History repeats it's self, right? Get ready...

I enjoyed this one very much lots of great, recounts and facts in one of the biggest human medical crisis in history's' history!