Immunologist-allergist Vladimir Bolibok told the Russians about the general features of the spread of coronavirus and Spanish flu in an interview with Sputnik radio.
The doctor said that the Spanish flu epidemic at the beginning of the last century had three waves: spring, autumn-winter and a year later, autumn-winter-spring. The second wave was the most difficult period. According to the expert, the situation is very similar in the case of coronavirus. “The herd immunity at the beginning of the infection was zero, so the wave went as it should have gone,” he explained.
Bolibok noted that there is a way to accelerate the end of the pandemic, but it is quite difficult to fully apply it in practice. It consists in putting all infected people in strict quarantine, since the virus cannot exist in the human body indefinitely. “If you lock all people in your apartments at the same time so that no one goes anywhere, the epidemic will end in two weeks,” the expert said.
Earlier, the coronavirus and the Spanish flu were compared by the chief infectious disease specialist of the Ministry of Health of Russia Vladimir Chulanov. According to the professor, there are certain similarities in the spread of the two diseases. He explained that the coronavirus and the Spanish flu are respiratory infections that are transmitted by airborne droplets, which largely explains their common features.