Impact of the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic on the New Zealand military and persisting lessons for pandemic control

We aimed to briefly review literature on the impact of the 1918–19 influenza pandemic on New Zealand’s military forces in the First World War. Collectively, this work identified established risk factors, for example, relating to age, pre-existing chronic conditions, a relatively short time from enlistment to foreign service, and crowded conditions (e.g. in military camps and on a troop ship). But novel risk factors were also identified, e.g. larger chest size and relatively early year of military deployment. The historical experience also has some potential lessons for future pandemic control including: the need to minimise crowding in institutions and other settings; being prepared for future pandemic waves; and planning for ‘protective sequestration’ in some settings.