Immigration, ethnicity, and the pandemic
- PMID:20568574
- PMCID: PMC2862341
- DOI: 10.1177/00333549101250S315
Immigration, ethnicity, and the pandemic
Abstract
The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 coincided with a major wave of immigration to the United States. More than 23.5 million newcomers arrived between 1880 and the 1920s, mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Canada, and Mexico. During earlier epidemics, the foreign-born were often stigmatized as disease carriers whose very presence endangered their hosts. Because this influenza struck individuals of all groups and classes throughout the country, no single immigrant group was blamed, although there were many local cases of medicalized prejudice. The foreign-born needed information and assistance in coping with influenza. Among the two largest immigrant groups, Southern Italians and Eastern European Jews, immigrant physicians, community spokespeople, newspapers, and religious and fraternal groups shouldered the burden. They disseminated public health information to their respective communities in culturally sensitive manners and in the languages the newcomers understood, offering crucial services to immigrants and American public health officials.
Similar articles
- New study: community measures can prevent deaths during pandemic.[No authors listed][No authors listed]J Environ Health. 2007 Dec;70(5):48.J Environ Health. 2007.PMID:18189041No abstract available.
- "Co-operation in All Human Endeavour": quarantine and immigrant disease vectors in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic in Winnipeg.Jones EW.Jones EW.Can Bull Med Hist. 2005;22(1):57-82. doi: 10.3138/cbmh.22.1.57.Can Bull Med Hist. 2005.PMID:15977380
- The "Oriental" problem: trachoma and Asian immigrants in the United States, 1897-1910.Shin JH.Shin JH.Uisahak. 2014 Dec;23(3):573-606. doi: 10.13081/kjmh.2014.23.573.Uisahak. 2014.PMID:25608509
- Emerging infections: pandemic influenza.Glezen WP.Glezen WP.Epidemiol Rev. 1996;18(1):64-76. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a017917.Epidemiol Rev. 1996.PMID:8877331Review.No abstract available.
- H1N1 influenza pandemics: comparing the events of 2009 in Mexico with those of 1976 and 1918-1919.Franco-Paredes C, Hernandez-Ramos I, Del Rio C, Alexander KT, Tapia-Conyer R, Santos-Preciado JI.Franco-Paredes C, et al.Arch Med Res. 2009 Nov;40(8):669-72. doi: 10.1016/j.arcmed.2009.10.004. Epub 2010 Jan 6.Arch Med Res. 2009.PMID:20304254Review.
Cited by
- When "model minorities" become "yellow peril"-Othering and the racialization of Asian Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic.Li Y, Nicholson HL Jr.Li Y, et al.Sociol Compass. 2021 Feb;15(2):e12849. doi: 10.1111/soc4.12849. Epub 2021 Jan 16.Sociol Compass. 2021.PMID:33786062Free PMC article.
- Social cohesion and attitudinal changes toward migration: A longitudinal perspective amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Castillo JC, Bonhomme M, Miranda D, Iturra J.Castillo JC, et al.Front Sociol. 2023 Jan 23;7:1009567. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2022.1009567. eCollection 2022.Front Sociol. 2023.PMID:36755565Free PMC article.
- Has Pandemic Threat Stoked Xenophobia? How COVID-19 Influences California Voters' Attitudes toward Diversity and Immigration.Daniels C, DiMaggio P, Mora GC, Shepherd H.Daniels C, et al.Sociol Forum (Randolph N J). 2021 Dec;36(4):889-915. doi: 10.1111/socf.12750. Epub 2021 Sep 1.Sociol Forum (Randolph N J). 2021.PMID:34908650Free PMC article.
- Is resistance to Covid-19 vaccination a "problem"? A critical policy inquiry of vaccine mandates for healthcare workers.Chaufan C, Hemsing N.Chaufan C, et al.AIMS Public Health. 2024 Jun 12;11(3):688-714. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2024035. eCollection 2024.AIMS Public Health. 2024.PMID:39416898Free PMC article.
- Crime and deviance during the COVID-19 pandemic.Regalado J, Timmer A, Jawaid A.Regalado J, et al.Sociol Compass. 2022 Apr;16(4):e12974. doi: 10.1111/soc4.12974. Epub 2022 Feb 24.Sociol Compass. 2022.PMID:35603319Free PMC article.Review.
References
- Kraut AM. Silent travelers, germs, genes, and the “immigrant menace.”. New York: Basic Books; 1994.
- Crosby AW. America's forgotten pandemic: the influenza of 1918. Cambridge (MA): Cambridge University Press; 1989.
- Jordan EO. Epidemic influenza. Chicago: American Medical Association; 1927.
- Billings M. The influenza pandemic of 1918. [cited 2010 Mar 19]. Available from: URL:http://www.virus.stanford.edu/uda.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Related information
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical