One hundred years ago, an aggressive flu virus killed 675,000 Americans in just 3 weeks. The virus, known as Spanish Influenza or the flu of 1918, went on to kill more than 50 million people worldwide and is still the deadliest pandemic in modern history.
Today, an increasingly connected world makes the risk of a deadly global pandemic like the 1918 flu higher than ever before — and we need to prepare.
That’s the message delivered Friday by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. Delivering the New England Journal of Medicine’s annual Shattuck Lecture in Boston, Gates also announced the launch of a $12 million grand challenge that will fund research into universal flu vaccines, something he says is essential to preparing for the next flu pandemic.
