The 1918 Flu Pandemic was the worst in recent history. This is caused by the H1N1 virus with avian genes. There is no universal consensus on the origin of the virus, but it spread around the world between 1918 and 1919. In the United States, it was first discovered by American soldiers. The spring of 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people, or one-third of the world’s population, have been infected with the virus. It is estimated that there are at least 50 million deaths in the world, of which 675,000 are in the United States.The mortality rate for children under 5, 20-40 and 65 and over is high. A notable feature of this epidemic is the high mortality rate among healthy people between 20 and 40 years of age. The H1N1 virus was synthesized and evaluated in 1918, but its destructiveness is unclear. Control measures around the world are isolation, isolation, proper personal hygiene and disinfectants, because there is no vaccine to prevent influenza infection, and there is no antibiotic to treat secondary bacterial infections that may be related to influenza infection. .. Public meetings for non-uniform applications.
What caused the Spanish flu?
It is not clear where the specific flu that caused the pandemic came from. However, within a few months after the flu was first detected in Europe, the United States, and parts of Asia in 1918, it spread to almost every part of the world.
The 1918 flu was not isolated in one place, but because Spain was severely affected by the epidemic and was not affected by the reduction, it was called the Spanish flu in the world. ..Wartime media. Affect other European countries. (It is said that King Alfonso XIII of Spain has also contracted the flu.)
An unusual aspect of the Spanish Flu 1918 is that it affected many previously healthy young people, usually groups fighting the epidemic, including several soldiers from the First World War. ..
In fact, the Americans who died of the flu in 1918 killed more people than those who participated in the war. The flu affected 40% of his U.S. Navy, 36% of the military became ill, and the military traveling around the world in crowded ships and trains also contributed to the spread of the virus. murderer.
The global death toll caused by the Spanish flu is estimated at 2-50 million, while others are estimated at 100 million, accounting for approximately 3% of the world’s population. Due to lack of medical records, accurate figures cannot be obtained in multiple locations.
But what we know is that few places are immune to the 1918 flu. In the United States, victims range from residents of large cities to remote communities in Alaska. According to reports, President Woodrow Wilson contracted the flu in early 1919 during the negotiation of the Versailles Treaty that ended the First World War.
Spain's influence on American war efforts during World War I
The experience of the US military during the First World War is closely related to the epidemic. The war triggered a flu pandemic in the overcrowded American camps and trenches on the front lines of Western Europe. The virus spread from camp to camp as soldiers crossed the Atlantic Ocean. At the peak of US military operations from September to November 1918, influenza and pneumonia affected 20-40% of US Army and Navy personnel. This high prevalence has hindered American immigration and training programs, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. When the American Expeditionary Force participated in the Battle of Argonne Muse, the epidemic shifted the resources needed from combat assistance to the transportation and care of the sick and dead. Influenza and pneumonia killed more Americans and sailors in wars than they killed enemies with guns.
Why is the Spanish flu called Spanish flu?
The Spanish flu was not caused by Spain, but the news was broadcast in Spain. During the First World War, Spain was a neutral country and free media coverage of the epidemic was possible from the start. It was first reported in Madrid in late May 1918. At the same time, Allied and Allied war researchers covered the flu to boost morale. Many people believe that this source exists because the Spanish news source is the only source of information about influenza (while the Spanish believe the virus originated in France: "France. I call it 'influenza").
Where does the 1918 Flu Pandemic come from?
There are theories in France, China, UK or the US that the first case was reported on March 11, 1918 at Camp Pinston, Fort Riley, Kansas, but scientists are still talking about the origin of the Spanish flu. I dont know. Some believe the infected soldiers spread the disease to other military camps around the country and shipped it overseas. They crossed the Atlantic with 84,000 Americans in March 1918 and 118,000 more the next month.
What are the symptoms of the Spanish Flu 1918?
In the summer of 1918, the virus quickly spread to other countries in continental Europe. Vienna, Budapest and Hungary as well as parts of Germany and France are affected. Many children from Berlin schools are absent due to illness, and production has declined due to the lack of military factories.
On June 25, 1918, the Spanish flu spread to England. According to the study The Spanish Cold Pandemic 1918-1919: A New Perspective (Routledge, 2003), the epidemic hit the London textile industry in July of that year. One night 80 of the factory's 400 workers fell ill. Go home. In London, 25 to 50 percent of the workforce is absent due to illness.
The plague quickly became an epidemic and swept the world. In August 1918, the saint killed six Canadian sailors on the Lawrence River. In the same month, Swedish military, civil and South African workers reported cases. In September, the flu spread over Boston Harbor in the United States.
Spanish Flu 1918 Timeline
Spanish Flu 1918 timeline has had three outbreaks. The first virus appeared during World War I in early March 1918. The original location of the virus is not yet known, but it quickly spread to Western Europe and Poland in July. The first flu pandemic was mild. However, by the summer, people realized that there was a more deadly disease, and by August 1918 it completely disappeared. Pneumonia usually progresses quickly and death occurs within two days of the flu epidemic. For example, six days after the first flu report, he had 6,674 cases in Camp Devens, Massachusetts. In the winter of the following year, the third pandemic broke out, and in the spring the virus began to spread. Subsequently, in both cases, around half of the deaths occurred between the ages of 20 and 40 years. This is an age-specific flu-related death scenario.
Potential Origins:
Despite the name, historical and epidemiological data cannot confirm the geographic origin of the Spanish flu. However, some theories have been proposed.
United States
The first confirmed case came from the United States. Historian Alfred W. Crosby said that the flu broke out in Kansas in 2003. Author John M. Barry wrote about the epidemic in Hask City, Kansas, in January 1918 in an article in 2004. Explanation. As a starting point. A 2018 tissue section and medical report study led by evolutionary biology professor Michael Sparrow found that Kansas disease was less common and less common than New York infections during the same mortality period. He reported that studies using phylogenetic analysis found evidence that the virus may have originated in North America, but this did not lead to a clear conclusion. complete. In addition, the viral hemagglutinin glycoprotein indicated that the virus was formed before 1918. Other studies have recombined the H1N1 virus around 1915 or around 1915, and some people have suggested that it may have occurred.
Europe
Virologist John Oxford said that a large British military and hospital camp in Etapez, France, was at the heart of the Spanish flu epidemic. According to his research, at the end of 1916, a new death disease began to appear in the field of Etaples, causing flu symptoms. According to Oxford University, a similar outbreak occurred in Aldershot Barracks in March 1917. These early outbreaks were later confirmed by military pathologists to be the same disease as the Spanish flu. The crowded warehouses and hospitals in ETAP are the perfect environment for the spread of respiratory viruses. Thousands of poison gas victims and other war victims were taken to the hospital, with 100,000 soldiers present every day. In addition, pigs and birds are brought from the surrounding villages to feed the camp regularly. Oxford and his team hypothesized that the precursor virus found in birds had mutated and transferred to frontline pigs. A report published in the Journal of the Chinese Medical Association in 2016 found that there was evidence that the 1918 virus had spread to the European military months or even years before the 1918 pandemic. this is. The political scientist Andrew Price-Smith published data from the Austrian Archives, which pointed out that the flu began in Austria in early 1917.
In his 2009 study on influenza and other respiratory viruses, the Spanish influenza mortality rate in 14 European countries that he analyzed peaked in October and November 1918, which is a pattern. The results are inconsistent. Researchers say the virus will start somewhere in Europe and wait for it to spread.
How did the Spanish flu end?
How did the Spanish flu ended: when there is no uncontrollable epidemic in society and the number of cases is small, the epidemic is over. Dr. Admiral said, because it is easy to find and publish examples in Europe. [Quran]. If this situation continues in the next few weeks, the epidemic may be brought under control. Dr. Jeremy Green, a historian at Johns Hopkins University, told the New York Times: He "questions social issues.
Claret said that social pressure during the Spanish flu pandemic depends on the amount of information available and its impact on national wars. For example, affected by the epidemic, British hospitals continued to operate after the war. But once people leave often, you don’t have to worry, Claret said.
How does it compare to the seasonal flu?
In the long term, the Spanish flu is by far the deadliest flu, accounting for about 1 to 3% of deaths in the world's population. The most recent flu outbreak occurred between 2009 and 2010, when the new H1N1 flu virus emerged. Since the virus responsible is similar to the virus found in pigs, the disease is called "swine flu" (not the swine virus). According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 151,700 and 575,400 deaths worldwide during the first year from respiratory illnesses caused by swine flu. The impact of this epidemic is much less than that of the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918. This is because they represent 0.001% to 0.007% of the world population. About 80% of swine flu deaths occur in people under the age of 65, which is rare. Overall, between 70% and 90% of deaths from seasonal influenza occur in people over 65 years of age. Today's annual flu vaccine includes vaccines against the strains of flu that cause swine flu. People still die from the flu each year, but the average is much lower than the swine and Spanish flu epidemics. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), annual epidemics of seasonal influenza cause between 3 and 5 million people to be seriously ill and it is estimated that between 290,000 and 650,000 have died.
What lessons have you learned from the 1918 Flu Pandemic?
Doctors struggle to understand what to recommend to their patients. Many doctors recommend that people avoid crowds or avoid others altogether. Others have suggested medications like cinnamon, wine, and even this herb. Doctors also told people to cover their mouth and nose openly. Aspirin use has been considered one of the main causes of the pandemic for some time.
On June 28, 1918, a British newspaper reported on the symptoms of the flu. However, this is actually an advertisement for modules and tablets manufactured and sold by vitamin companies. Even if a person dies, he can still make money by asking for bogus "treatments." The ad claims that peppermint is "the best way to prevent the infection process." Everyone, including children, should take 4 to 5 tablets a day until they feel better.
Americans receive similar advice on how to avoid infection. Shaking hands with other people, staying indoors, touching books in the library, or wearing a mask is not recommended. Schools and theaters have been closed and the New York City Department of Health is cracking down on health laws that prohibit acupuncture, according to comments published in the Journal of Public Health Reports. Street. World War I caused a shortage of doctors in some areas and many doctors fell ill on their own. Schools and other buildings were turned into makeshift hospitals and medical students had to change doctors.