Erratum: "Deconstructing ‘Normal' for a More Equitable Post–COVID-19 World” (American Journal of Public Health (2022) 112:4 (533-533) DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2022.306743)

In: Park SY, van Doren TP, Frederick J, Butler SA, Chen ZJ, Carroll L. Deconstructing "Normal” for a More Equitable Post–COVID-19 World. American Journal of Public Health 2022;112(4):533-533. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022. 306743 Two author degrees were incorrect in the online version of the article. Lorne Carroll's degree was missing and Zhangying Jennie Chen's degree was incorrectly listed as BSN. The byline should read: Susanna Y Park, MA, Taylor P. van Doren, MA, Jynx Frederick, BSPH, Sabrina Azemar Butler, MS, Zhangying Jennie Chen, BS, and Lorne Carroll, BSN This change does not affect the paper's conclusions. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306743e © 2022 American Public Health Association Inc.. All rights reserved.

Pandemics, past, and present: The role of biological anthropology in interdisciplinary pandemic studies

Biological anthropologists are ideally suited for the study of pandemics given their strengths in human biology, health, culture, and behavior, yet pandemics have historically not been a major focus of research. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need to understand pandemic causes and unequal consequences at multiple levels. Insights from past pandemics can strengthen the knowledge base and inform the study of current and future pandemics through an anthropological lens. In this paper, we discuss the distinctive social and epidemiological features of pandemics, as well as the ways in which biological anthropologists have previously studied infectious diseases, epidemics, and pandemics. We then review interdisciplinary research on three pandemics-1918 influenza, 2009 influenza, and COVID-19-focusing on persistent social inequalities in morbidity and mortality related to sex and gender;race, ethnicity, and Indigeneity;and pre-existing health and disability. Following this review of the current state of pandemic research on these topics, we conclude with a discussion of ways biological anthropologists can contribute to this field moving forward. Biological anthropologists can add rich historical and cross-cultural depth to the study of pandemics, provide insights into the biosocial complexities of pandemics using the theory of syndemics, investigate the social and health impacts of stress and stigma, and address important methodological and ethical issues. As COVID-19 is unlikely to be the last global pandemic, stronger involvement of biological anthropology in pandemic studies and public health policy and research is vital.