Gonina N.V., Zamyatina N.Y., Volodin A.Y., Ivanova A.E. Discussion of M.I. Azambuya’s Article “What if the Demographic Crisis in Russia Has a Hidden Environmental Cause?”. Historical Courier. 2024. No. 3 (35). Pp. 247–251. [Available online: http: ...

Текст статьи на сайте журнала URL: http://istkurier.ru/data/2024/ISTKURIER-2024-3-19.pdf (дата обращения 10.10.2024)

Abstract

The history of epidemics has been studied for more than 100 years. Doctors and epidemiologists have been and are constantly engaged in it, becauseepidemics have always accompanied humanity, and fighting them is the key to its survival not only in the past, but also in the present and in the future. If we turn to foreign scientific literature, we can see that in the 2000s. A well-founded interdisciplinary approach to the study of the topic has developed, including a deep dive into the history of the issue, attracting a large volume of retrospectivestatistical data, combining advanced knowledge of medicine, genetics, demography using modern information processing methods. Special attention in research is paid to influenza, a rapidly spreading and deadly disease, the nature of which has not been recognized by scientists for a long time. One of these works is an article by Maria Ines Azambuya, which examines the impact of influenza epidemics on humans from the neonatal period to death. The author suggests that it is the flu that can cause reduced infant viability, the development of heart disease and increased mortality. The article is based on Russian statistical data from the second half of the twentieth – early twentyfirstcentury and is in many ways historiography unique, which led to the decision to organize a discussion on its materials, methods and conclusions. The participants of the discussion appreciated the boldness of the idea and the originality of the author’s hypothesis, but pointed out the need for serious research to confirm it.