As part of the celebrations for International Day of Women and Girls in Science and the 2021 theme ‘Women scientists at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19’, AMSI and ANZIAM are proud to present a public lecture from Dr Cecile Viboud (Fogarty International Center, National Institute of Health).

Title: From historical influenza pandemics to COVID-19: how modelling can help understand and mitigate major infectious disease events.

Abstract: We will review contemporaneous and historical mortality analyses that have shed light on the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of pandemic outbreaks in different regions of the world. Excess mortality and transmission rates of pandemic influenza have been estimated based on archived mortality statistics going back to the 19th Century and analyses of genealogy databases. Characteristic features of influenza pandemics include the existence of multiple closely spaced waves of mortality, a shift in the age profile of deaths, a lack of winter seasonality, and heterogeneity in clinical severity over time and by geography. Some of these features echo what we see today in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will discuss how mathematical modelling has been useful to understand the disease burden of major historical infectious disease events and guide policy on how to mitigate the impact of novel pathogens.

This lecture is recommended for both general and specialist audiences from high school students and above.

Watch online now: https://rhed.amsi.org.au/public-lectures/from-historical-influenza-pandemics-to-covid-19/