Coronavirus can only be beaten if groups such as Sage are transparent and accountable | Richard Coker

The reaction to the 1976 swine flu outbreak in the US is a prime example of the dangers of scientific groupthinkCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEarlier this month in the Guardian, the Lancet editor, Richard Horton,suggested that“coronavirus is the greatest global science policy failure in a generation”. He recalled the many experts who have been predicting such a pandemic, some for decades, and argued that in the UK, “the experts – scientists who have modelled and simulated our possible futures – made assumptions that turned out to be mistaken.” If he is right, and I think he is, then we should ask, why?I ’ve been researching the control of infectious diseases for 30 years, and I believe that an earlier debacle – one perhaps forgotten by many – offers insights. In 1976, fearful that anoutbreak of swine influenza at Fort Dix army camp in New Jersey was the centre of an influenza pandemic on a scale potentially similar to the1918Spanish flu, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised President Gerald Ford of the urgent need for a mass immunisation programme.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases Medical research Science World news UK news Source Type: news