A 100 years ago today – the likely first NZ death from the 1918 influenza pandemic

Tuesday, August 28th, 2018 | dayhi34p | No Comments

Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael Baker

The 1918 influenza pandemic began to kill New Zealanders 100 years ago today. Ultimately it killed 9000 NZ citizens and so is by far the largest natural disaster to hit this country. In this blog we reflect on this event and draw links with the present day pandemic risks (including from synthetic bioweapons). We highlight the importance of continuing to invest in public health infrastructure and pandemic preparedness and planning.

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Public Health at the Movies: A Selection of 35 Top Movies

Tuesday, April 7th, 2015 | Kate Sloane | 4 Comments

Associate Professor Nick Wilson, Dr Peter Gallagher

We have assembled a collection of 35 high quality movies as part of public health teaching for medical students. In this blog post we detail the movies and reflect on some of the aspects that make them both educational and entertaining.

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Lessons From History: Helping New Zealand Prepare for Future Influenza Pandemics

Friday, November 29th, 2013 | Kate Sloane | No Comments

Associate Professor Nick Wilson and Professor Michael Baker

Crowding on this NZ troopship (the Tahiti) may have contributed to a particularly severe outbreak during the 1918 influenza pandemic

Flu pandemics are important but relatively rare so the lessons learned from such events may not be available when they are most needed. This is where historical research can help. Here we reflect on some lessons that could be learnt from the 1918 influenza pandemic – building on a presentation we are presenting today at a Victoria University based conference on World War One [1].

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