At the centenary commemoration of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, many questions with regard to the origin, the development and the impact of this worldwide phenomenon remain largely uncharted.

Argument

At the centenary commemoration of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, many questions with regard to the origin, the development and the impact of this worldwide phenomenon remain largely uncharted.  

• Where did this virus come from?
• To what degree and how were its genesis and its rapid transcontinental spread caused and/or facilitated by the war circumstances?
• Which genetic features of the virus explain its unusually high pathogenicity?
• How did medical and political authorities react?
• Why were some age groups spared by this dreadful virus?
• Is it possible to fathom the impact of the pandemic both on the everyday life of citizens and on general developments in science, culture and politics?
• How far can a historical approach contribute to the understanding of current-day pandemics, and vice versa?

Programme

Day 1 - 7 February 2019

• 08:00 - 9:00 Registration and poster mounting

Plenary session

9:00 - 09:10 Welcome by Xavier Saelens and Marnix Beyen

• 09:10 - 09:50 Was the emergence and spread of the Great Pandemic aided and abetted by the Great War? John Oxford Queen Mary College, London, UK, Douglas Gill, Historian, UK
• 09:50 - 10:30 Socio-psychological reactions to the influenza pandemic, 1918-1920, seen from the history of epidemics, Samuel Cohn University of Glasgow, UK

10:30 - 11:00 Tea and coffee break

• 11:00 - 11:40 100 Years on from the Spanish Flu: Are We Ready for the Next Epidemic? Peter Piot, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
• 11:40 - 12:20 Laura Spinney Writer & science journalist, FR/CH

12:2014:00 Lunch 

13:00- 14:00 Poster session

Parallel session 1: A historical reflection on the 1918 influenza pandemic

• 14:00 - 14:40 Presenter TBA
• 14:40 - 15:20 Abbey Sirup will do the trick. The Spanish Flu in the Netherlands.Leo van Bergen Medical historian, NL

15:20 - 15:45 Tea and coffee break

• 15:45 - 16:25 Reflections on the Spanish Flu in India, John Mathew Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pashan Pune, Maharashtra, IN
• 16:25 - 16:30 Closing of parallel session 1 by Marnix Beyen and move to plenary session

Parallel session 2: A Biomedical reflection on the 1918 influenza pandemic

• 14:00 - 14:40 Antigenic explanation for the widespread circulation of the 2018 seasonal influenza virus, Scott E. Hensley, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US
• 14:40 - 15:00 Selected short talk
• 15:00 - 15:20 Selected short talk
• 15:20 - 15:45 Tea and coffee break
• 15:45 - 16:05 Selected short talk
• 16:05 - 15:25 Selected short talk

Plenary Session 2

• 16:30 - 17:15 Present & Past Perspectives on the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Jeffrey Reznick National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health, US
• 17:15 - 17:30 Presenter TBA 

Day 2 - 8 February 2019

Plenary Session

• 09:00 - 09:10 Welcome by Xavier Saelens and Marnix Beyen
• 09:10 - 09:50 Rumours and the role of limited information in the 1918 influenza pandemic Heidi Larson London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
• 09:50 - 10:30 Howard Phillips University of Cape Town, Cape Town, ZA

10:30 - 11:00 Tea and coffee break

• 11:00 - 11:40 Peter Palese Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US
• 11:40 - 12:20 Mapping the flu : health borders at stake, Europe, 1918-1920s Anne Rasmussen University of Strasbourg, FR
• 12:20 - 12:30 Closing of the meeting by Marnix Beyen and Xavier Saelens and explanation of the practical arrangements for the social program

12:3014:00 Lunch

13:0014:00 Poster session

Social program, Optional for registered attendees and registered accompanying persons.

• 14:00 - 15:15 Visit Lijssenthoek Cemetery and visitor centre in Poperinge (Hospital site during WWI)
• 15:30 - 17:00 Visit of In Flanders Field Museum
• 17:00 - 18:30 Closing drink in the museum café

Organizing Committee

• Marnix Beyen (co-chair), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
• Xavier Saelens (co-chair), Ghent University and VIB, Ghent, Belgium
• Peter Palese, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
• Anne Rasmussen, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
• Kaat Wils, KULeuven, Leuven, Belgium
• Marc Van Ranst, KULeuven, Leuven, Belgium
• Dominiek Dendooven, In Flanders Fields Museum (Ieper) and University of Antwerp (Antwerp), Belgium