Combating a disease of unknown cause is a daunting task. One hundred years ago, a pandemic of poorly understood etiology and transmissibility spread worldwide, causing an estimated 50 million deaths. Initially attributed to Haemophilus influenzae, it was not until the 1930s that an H1 subtype was identified as the causative strain. Subsequent influenza pandemics in 1957, 1968, and 2009 did not approach levels of morbidity and mortality comparable to those of the 1918 “Spanish flu,” leaving unanswered for almost a century questions regarding the extraordinary virulence and transmissibility of this unique strain. Technological advances made reconstruction of the 1918 virus possible; now, continued research, vaccine development, and preparedness are essential to ensure that such a devastating public health event is not repeated.

中文翻译：

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100 年后的 1918 年流感

与不明原因的疾病作斗争是一项艰巨的任务。一百年前，一场对病因和传染性知之甚少的流行病在世界范围内蔓延，估计造成 5000 万人死亡。最初归因于流感嗜血杆菌，直到 1930 年代才将 H1 亚型确定为致病菌株。随后在 1957、1968 和 2009 年发生的流感大流行并没有达到与 1918 年“西班牙流感”相当的发病率和死亡率水平，这使得关于这种独特毒株的超强毒力和传播性的问题近一个世纪没有得到解答。技术进步使重建 1918 年病毒成为可能；现在，继续研究、疫苗开发和准备工作对于确保此类破坏性公共卫生事件不再重演至关重要。