Robert Edgar Hope-Simpson

I never knew of him until Ivor highlighted his research, Hope-Simpson brilliantly mapped out seasonality of respiratory viruses that still hold true today.

He published this book which questioned the theory of person-to-person transmission being enough to explain the simultaneous appearance of influenza in places far apart.

His initial hypothesis proposed that the cause of influenza epidemics during winter may be connected to a seasonal influence.

Worth noting past coronaviruses exhibit similar seasonality to influenza.

His later research suggested that the correlation may be due in part to a lack of vitamin D during the wintertime, after documenting that influenza A epidemics in temperate latitudes peak in the month following the winter solstice.

How important is Vitamin D? https://twitter.com/2017rockwood/status/1333060486468935680?s=21

His findings were based not only on observation in his practice, but also on extensive historical research into past epidemics.

He mapped out 4 regions of seasonal/latitude patterns: https://twitter.com/hold2llc/status/1286550960190431233?s=21

Canada is text book northern temperate pattern. This means what we’re experiencing present day is totally normal.

Guess what, next year we will see respiratory viruses visit us again and again in a similar pattern... Covid-19 is no different in this manner.