Past Influenza Epidemics and Implications for Contemporary Influenza Research

Influenza has probably been with us for a very long time. Some descriptions in antiquity resemble influenza epidemics; the ‘Cough of Perinthus’, described by Hippocrates in Book IV of his Epidemics, has been thought by historians to resemble influenza symptoms (Hippocrates [Farr], 1780; Martin and Martin-Granel, 2006). In this paper, I explore the implications of past influenza epidemics on contemporary research, focusing mainly on the virological aspects.