Towards the end of world war one, the world faced a pandemic, caused not by smallpox or bubonic plague, but by an influenza A virus. The 1918–19 influenza pandemic was possibly the worst single natural disaster of all time, infecting an estimated 500 million people, or one third of the world population and killing between 20 and 100 million people in just over one year. The impact of the virus may have influenced the outcome of the first world war and killed more people than the war itself. The pandemic resulted in global economic disruption. It was a stimulus to establishment of local vaccine production in Australia. Those cities that removed public health restrictions too early experienced a second wave of infections. Unfortunately, it seems that the lessons of infection control and epidemic preparedness must be relearnt in every generation and for each new epidemic.

第一次世界大战即将结束时，世界面临的大流行不是由天花或鼠疫引起的，而是由A型流感病毒引起的。1918-19年的流感大流行可能是有史以来最严重的自然灾害，估计仅一年多就感染了5亿人，占世界人口的三分之一，造成20至1亿人死亡。该病毒的影响可能影响了第一次世界大战的结果，并造成了比战争本身更多的人丧生。大流行导致全球经济中断。这刺激了澳大利亚本地疫苗生产的建立。那些过早取消公共卫生限制的城市经历了第二波感染。不幸，