Early evidence suggests that COVID-19 caused a sharp decrease in international trade and widening of current account imbalances. This paper shows (qualitatively) similar responses have characterized the effects previous pandemics. Using data from sample 170 countries, we find pandemic shock is typically followed by sizable output volumes, but an uneven response: balances improve developed (or s...

D the past 2 years, back-to-back epidemics of Ebola and Zika have stunned even seasoned public health officials with unprecedented levels of illness and death that have been associated with these events. Both viruses, previously thought to cause only limited outbreaks, surprised the people of the world with a seemingly sudden ability to spread across multiple countries and cause illness in new,...

In ̄uenza in zones with a temperate climate is characterized by the occurrence of one annual epidemic during the winter months. In the northern hemisphere, the in ̄uenza season falls in November through April, while in the southern hemisphere in ̄uenza occurs during May through September [1]. In contrast, in countries with a tropical climate, the timing of periods of in ̄uenza epidemics is less dis...

background: guillain-barre syndrome (gbs) is an acute immune-mediated peripheral neuropathy usually after an incident. this study was performed to investigate the basic epidemiologic features of gbs in south of iran. methods: we studied consecutive patients with gbs in nemazi hospital of shiraz, southern iran. demographic characteristics of the subjects, i.e. age, sex, and length of hospital st...

BACKGROUND Pandemic influenza is said to 'shift mortality' to younger age groups; but also to spare a subpopulation of the elderly population. Does one of these effects dominate? Might this have important ramifications? METHODS We estimated age-specific excess mortality rates for all-years for which data were available in the 20th century for Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the UK, and the ...

BACKGROUND Significant legal challenges arise when health-care resources become scarce and population-based approaches to care are implemented during severe disasters and pandemics. Recent emergencies highlight the serious legal, economic, and health impacts that can be associated with responding in austere conditions and the critical importance of comprehensive, collaborative health response s...