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The meaning of \u2018pandemic\u2019 influenza is in fact highly ambiguous in its partitioning of pandemic and seasonal influenza. The past 200\u2005years of influenza epidemics in Sweden are examined with a special focus on key social structures\u2014households, schools, transportations and the military. These are shown to have influenced the progression of influenza pandemics. Prevailing beliefs around influenza pandemics have also profoundly influenced intervention strategies. Measuring long-term trends in pandemic severity is problematic because pandemics are non-linear events where the conditions surrounding them constantly change. However, in a linearised view, the Spanish flu can be seen to represent a historical turning point and the H1N1 2009 pandemic not as an outlier, but following a 100-year trend of decreasing severity. Integrating seasonal and pandemic influenza, and adopting an ecosocial stance can deepen our understanding and bring the ghost-like pandemic past to life.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/medhum-2016-011023","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,9]],"date-time":"2016-11-09T07:25:28Z","timestamp":1478676328000},"page":"141-147","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["The ghost of pandemics past: revisiting two centuries of influenza in Sweden"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"43","author":[{"given":"Martin","family":"Holmberg","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025092412131312000_43.3.141.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rosenberg CE . Explaining epidemics and other studies in the history of medicine. 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