A Brief History of Deadly Flu
This is not an update of the status of our current pandemic. Rather it is a very brief historical look at flus that have affected us. We need to know that we are not the first Americans to experience a pandemic and will not be the last.
A pandemic is
not a "one time" event and periods of illnesses may come in 2 or 3
"waves" anywhere from 3 to 12 months apart. The total duration of a pandemic is likely to be 12 to 18 months. The most recent pandemic, other than
the current coronavirus, occurred in 2009 and was caused by an influenza A (H1N1)
virus. It is estimated to have caused between 100 000 and 400 000 deaths
globally in the first year alone.
1918
INFLUENZA PANDEMIC -- While it's unlikely that the
“Spanish Flu” originated in Spain, scientists are
still unsure of its source. France, China and Britain have all been
suggested as the potential birthplace of the virus, as has the United States, where the first
known case was reported at a military base in Kansas on March 11,
1918. There is no evidence to the conspiracy theory that the flu arrived
in a German submarine off of the U.S. Atlantic coast.
At least 50 million people were
killed around the world including an estimated 675,000 Americans. In fact, the
1918 pandemic actually caused the average life expectancy in the United States
to drop by about 12 years for both men and women. Scientists offer several
possible explanations for the high mortality rate of the 1918 influenza
pandemic. Some analyses have shown the virus to be particularly deadly because
it triggers a cytokine storm, which ravages the stronger immune system of young
adults. Philadelphia was the hardest-hit city in the United States. After the
Liberty Loan parade (celebrations to promote government bonds that helped pay
for the Allied cause in Europe) on September 28, thousands of people became
infected. The 1918 influenza pandemic caused an estimated 50 million to 100
million deaths worldwide.
The virus that caused the 1918 influenza pandemic
probably sprang from North American domestic and wild birds, not from the
mixing of human and swine viruses. Descendants of the 1918 influenza virus
still circulate today, and current seasonal influenza vaccines provide some
protection against the 1918 virus. The symptoms of the 1918 flu included the normal
flu symptoms of fever, nausea, aches and diarrhea. Many developed severe
pneumonia attack. Dark spots would appear on the cheeks and patients would turn
blue, suffocating from a lack of oxygen as lungs filled with a frothy, bloody
substance. Oct 5, 2005. The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918
killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was
attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than
any other illness in recorded history.
THE
BLACK PLAGUE -- The
plague killed an estimated 25 million people, almost a third of the continent's
population. The Black Death lingered on for centuries, particularly in cities. One
of the worst plagues in history arrived at Europe's shores in 1347. Five years
later, some 25 to 50 million people were dead. Nearly 700 years after the Black
Death swept through Europe, it still haunts the world as the worst-case
scenario for an epidemic.
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