By examining the origins, pathways, demographic impact and consequences for the public, the medical profession and governments, of the socalled spanish influenza pandemic of 19181919, this article establishes the main contours of the worst pandemic in modern history, which killed some 50 million people worldwide in eighteen months. Agespecific mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic. In the united states, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. The spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwideabout onethird of the planets populationand killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims, including some 675,000 americans.
Even its name, influenza, hints at its usual pattern of coming around each winter. It is an oddity of history that the influenza epidemic of 1918 has been overlooked in the teaching of american history. Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 2040 years old, and 65 years and older. Essay on causes of the 1918 influenza pandemic 1189 words. First global estimates of 2009 h1n1 pandemic mortality. The 1918 flu pandemic, commonly referred to as the spanish flu, was a category 5 influenza pandemic caused by an unusually severe and deadly influenza a virus strain of subtype h1n1.
Most research has focused on the health and economic outcomes of descendants of pandemic survivors and the mortality differences across socioeconomic classes. Background the origin and estimated death toll of the 1918 1919 epidemic are still debated. The impact of the pandemic on the united states is sobering to contemplate. According to niall johnsons book britain and the 191819 influenza pandemic. At the time, scientists had not yet discovered flu viruses, but we know today that the 1918 pandemic was caused by an influenza a h1n1 virus. If the h5n1 strain, or any other strain of animal influenza, were to develop into a pandemic strain, no one would have immunity. With about a third of the world population infected, this casefatality ratio means that 3% to 6% of the entire global population died. Will the coronavirus outbreak be as bad as the 1918. The 1918 spanish flu pandemic prepared the world for. Sep 01, 2008 the spanish population growth index was negative for 1918 net loss, 83,121 persons. Pandemic years are associated with many more cases of influenza and a higher case fatality rate than that seen in seasonal flu outbreaks. People were struck with illness on the street and died rapid deaths. For example, the pandemic of 195758 had a global death rate of 3 smu or 0.
How about like this or have paper masters custom write you a historically based research paper on the flu pandemic of 1918. Public health interventions and epidemic intensity during. The virus infected 500 million people worldwide and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million. However, john barry stated in his 2004 book the great influenza. The american army suffered 53,402 battlefield deaths and 63,000 deaths from influenza. For 1918, death rates during the 3year pandemic window were compared with those in surrounding years, i. The influenza pandemic of 1918 infected approximately onefourth of the population of the united states and killed an estimated 675,000. Gregory, pandemic influenza storybook, us department of health and human services. One of the strangest aspects of the currently held wisdom about the pandemic is the curiously low death rate attributed to japan compared.
While the first world war claimed the lives of more than 18,000 new zealand soldiers over a fouryear period, the second wave of the 1918 influenza epidemic killed about 9000 people in less than two months. Influenza pandemic of 191819, the most severe influenza outbreak of the 20th century and among the most devastating pandemics in human history. The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human. History of 1918 flu pandemic pandemic influenza flu cdc. Europe, one of the candidate sites for pandemic emergence, has detailed pandemic mortality information. Events the 1900s 1918 the influenza epidemic of 1918. Influenza is not supposed to be deadly, at least for young adults, who have little reason to fear death or disease. Public health interventions and epidemic intensity during the 1918 influenza pandemic richard j. This unusually deadly influenza virus killed 675,000 people in the united states, a greater number than u. Mar 20, 2020 influenza pandemic of 191819, the most severe influenza outbreak of the 20th century and among the most devastating pandemics in human history.
The influenza pandemic of 1918 19 claimed the lives of between 20 and 40 million people around the world, at least three times the number killed in the war. How they flattened the curve during the 1918 spanish flu. Observations on mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Objective to determine the mortality impact of the 1918 pandemic in 14 european countries, accounting for approximately three. The influenza pandemic of 1918 1919 killed more people than combat in world war i. The citys response to the disease is a cautionary tale for the public health response to. Mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic cid 2001. Public health service that very few cases have been reported.
While the 1918 h1n1 virus has been synthesized and evaluated, the. Influenza is an italian word that, one hypothesis has it, was coined by the diseases italian victims in the middle of the eighteenth century. More people died of influenza in a single year than in fouryears of the black death bubonic plague from 47 to 51. In 1918, an influenza virus known as the spanish flu killed over 50. Known as the spanish flu, or the 1918 influenza pandemic. Although a great deal of evidence indicates that the 1918 ah1n1 influenza virus unlikely originated in and spread from spain, the 19181919 influenza pandemic will always be known as the spanish flu. A makeshift flu ward at camp funston, kansas, 1918. Deathly 1918 flu in kansas city offers coronavirus lesson. By the end of 1918, the city had logged 12,718 influenza cases and 1,218 resulting deaths a rate reportedly much higher than other cities of comparable size. How coronavirus compares to the 1918 flu, h1n1 and other. Today, as the world grinds to a halt in response to the coronavirus. Lasting from january 1918 to december 1920, it infected 500 million people about a quarter of the worlds population at the time.
Flu pandemic 1918 research papers flu pandemic of 1918 is notable for its high mortality rate and is linked to the spread of h1n1 virus. To maintain morale, world war i censors minimized early reports of. Consider the influenza pandemic of 1918, often referred to erroneously as the spanish flu. The mortality rate attributable to influenza was diminished after 1976, but not as a result of vaccination. Influenza asian flu was a pandemic outbreak of influenza a of the h2n2 subtype, that originated in china in 1956 and lasted until 1958. In india, the mortality rate reached 50 deaths per 1,000 people a. What made denver so susceptible to an exacerbated outbreak. The unprecedented overall mortality and the mortality rate among young adults during the 19181919 influenza pandemic are incompletely understood.
A little more than a century later as bay staters brace for a surge of expected deaths from a new pandemic, the framingham history center is helping two prominent public health educators spread. In the pandemic of 1918, between 50 and 100 million people are thought to have died, representing as much as 5% of the worlds population. The difference between the influenza mortality agedistributions of the 1918 epidemic and normal epidemics. Learn about the origins, spread, and impact of the influenza pandemic of 191819. These figures are taken from geoffrey rice, black november. The influenza pandemic of 19181919 killed more people than the great war, known today as world war i, at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. Introduction online documents bibliography influenza related medical terms personnel receiving awards photographs of the epidemic introduction we are all familiar with the telltale signs of the flu.
The influenza pandemic of 191819 caused unprecedented devastation 1. The spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was an unusually deadly influenza. No other event has killed so many new zealanders in so short a space of time. Although contemporary reports attributed the origin of the influenza pandemic to spain in 1918, hence the name the spanish flu, it now seems more likely that the virus responsible originated as early as 1915, and that isolated outbreaks of the disease labelled purulent bronchitis were occurring in england and france in 1916 and 1917. The 1918 influenza outbreak was caused by an h1n1 virus with. The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. Figure 1 shows our estimates of excess mortality rates from the great influenza pandemic for 43 countries during 19181920. The casefatality rate in the 1918 pandemic was around 2. Jun 25, 2012 june 25, 2012 a study published today in the lancet infectious diseases online first external icon provides the first global estimates of how many people died as a result of the 2009 h1n1 influenza pandemic.
Let me tell you a little about how michigan was affected by the 1918 pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the influenza pandemic of 1918 in the united states, its economic effects, and its implications for a modernday pandemic. October was the month in which there were more deaths caused by the influenza pandemic. The story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it by gina kolata. In studies of hospitalized pregnant women during the 1918 pandemic, the death rate. For instance, studies found that during the influenza pandemic of 1918 and 1919 the adult death rate was a significant factor of unsuccessful. The most important lesson of the 1918 influenza pandemic. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the great influenza pandemic of 1918. What made the 1918 influenzaunique was thatmortality rates were the highestfor the segment of the population aged 18 to 40, and more so for males than femalesof thisage group. Framinghams insights from the influenza of 1918 may help.
What can images of the 1918 influenza pandemic teach us. Influenza and pneumonia death rates for those 1534 years of age in 19181919, for example, were 20 times higher than in previous years 35. The 191819 pandemic is the event against which all other pandemics are compared because of its unprecedented death toll. Mortality burden of the 19181919 influenza pandemic in europe. Jan 01, 2005 the influenza pandemic in england and wales. The fatality rate among young adults, although high in the 1918 influenza. In fact, this is probably no different from what our american ancestors encountered before world war i. Thats caused some people to worry the coronavirus could end up becoming as bad as the 1918 flu. Mortality rates from a typical influenza tend to be the greatestfor the very young and the very old. Overall, nearly half of the influenzarelated deaths in the 1918 pandemic were in young adults 2040 years of age. Jan 11, 2018 the influenza pandemic of 19181919 was one of the most severe medical episodes in modern history. Ten myths about the 1918 flu pandemic history smithsonian.
The influenza virus had a profound virulence, with a mortality rate at 2. The relatively mild flu season and lower rates of flu mortality in china in 1918 may be explained by the chinese. No other epidemic has claimed as many lives as the spanish influenza epidemic in 19181919. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 2040 year age group, was a. Globally, roughly 500 million people were infected, with a death toll estimated at between 20 million and 50 million. The epidemic affected the course of history and was a terrifying presence at the end of world war i, killing more americans in a single year than died in battle in world war i. During the 1918 influenza pandemic, kansas city had one of the nations worst death rates. Influenza pandemic of 1918 south carolina encyclopedia.
Essay on causes of the 1918 influenza pandemic 1189 words 5 pages it killed more people in twentyfour weeks than aids has killed in twentyfour years, more in a year than the black death killed in a century. Learn about the origins, spread, and impact of the influenza pandemic. Iowa department of public health the 1918 flu 100 years later. However, we can still learn a great deal from barrys account of the great influenza of 1918 because the mitigation methods are still basically the same. Deaths in the united states peaked with a sudden spike in october 1918. By the summer of 1918, the second wave struck as a highly contagious and lethal epidemic and within weeks exploded into a pandemic, an illness that travels rapidly from one continent to another. Spike in mortality rate due to the 1918 flu des moines. This demonstrates that the influenza pandemic was rampant through the a. Documentation of the disease is ample, as shown in the records selected from the holdings of the national archives regional archives. In 1918, a flu virus took only a few months to kill three times more people than world war i. Jun 20, 2018 in spring of 1918, world war i was underway, and troops at fort riley, kansas, found themselves felled by influenza. Here in denver, the first influenza related death was actually a du student, blanche kennedy. During 1918 s final four months an extraordinarily virulent influenza strain blazed across the globe, killing as many as a hundred million people, sixpercent of the worlds population. The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history.
Sources cdc, national geographic, smithsonian, the gazette iowa, university of michigan influenza encyclopedia marajo island the only place in the world without a single reported case of flu. The age distribution of mortality due to influenza. Jun 25, 20 despite being one of the deadliest natural disasters in history, the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918 has been nearly forgotten. In its twoyear spree, asian flu traveled from the chinese province of guizhou to singapore, hong kong, and the united states. The large number of people suffering and dying had a psychological affect on everyone garrett. Read about the 1918 influenza pandemic and progress made in preparedness and response. Jan 09, 2001 in flu she does a fine job of reporting on the great influenza pandemic of 1918 19, and on the search for the virus that caused twenty to a hundred million deaths. The population figures are those of the 1916 census. Score a books total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
The loss from pandemic influenza risk disease control priorities. May 14, 2018 the pandemics death toll was greater than the total number of military and civilian deaths from world war i, which was happening simultaneously. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the united states. The 1918 flu pandemic was brutal, killing more than 50 million. Cities that went all in on social distancing in 1918.
Maori populations for counties are inclusive of interior boroughs. The horrific scale of the 1918 influenza pandemicknown as the spanish flu is hard to fathom. By understanding these myths about it, we can prevent and mitigate disasters in the future. The fatality rate in 1918, in the west at least, was about 2 percent. Despite killing 675,000 people in the united states and 40 million worldwide, the influenza of 1918 has been nearly forgotten. Its a scary word but the world has seen pandemics before, and worse ones, too.
The 1918 flu was first observed in europe, the united states and parts. In late september 1918, michigan officials reported to the u. In 1918, a flu pandemic ripped through the globe, infecting onethird of the world population and killing more than 50 million people. The general form of agespecific mortality data in 1918, with a peak at a specific age, suggests that individuals were more or less susceptible to dying from influenza given their age at the time of the 188990 pandemic, rather than being more or less protected from earlier exposure to an antigenically similar virus. This is not a prediction its a description of how the influenza pandemic of 1918. The story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and. The 1918 pandemic is also unique among influenza pandemics in that absolute risk of influenza death was higher in those 65. Coronavirus meets the great influenza pandemic vox, cepr. Flu pandemic 1918 research paper due and dont know how to start it. Over the second half of the 20th century, canada and the usa had, by far, the lowest influenza mortality rate, about half that of the highest rate in these countries, which was in the uk. Barry, who wrote an influential book on the 1918 pandemic, says that lying. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history.
Estimations of deaths in virginia caused by pandemic flu. It was caused by an h1n1 virus with genes of avian origin. The effects of the 19181919 influenza pandemic on infant and. Fiction that involves the 1918 influenza epidemicpandemic also called the spanish flu that claimed the lives of 100 million people worldwide. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918 1919. Now, a new study suggests exposure during childhood may explain why it was so deadly. While peak mortality was reached in 1918 the pandemic did not end. Influenza epidemic of 1918 university of illinois archives. Jan 12, 2018 ten myths about the 1918 flu pandemic. Deaths associated with influenza pandemic of 191819, japan. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 2040 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic. Salicylates and pandemic influenza mortality, 19181919.
The 1918 flu, also known as the spanish flu, lasted until 1920 and is considered the deadliest pandemic in modern history. How the horrific 1918 flu spread across america smithsonian. While the first world war claimed the lives of more than 18,000 new zealand soldiers over a fouryear period, the second wave of the 1918 influenza epidemic killed about 9000. South island influenza death rates the 1918 influenza. A widely cited stat about death rates seems to argue otherwise, but its. Unlike the other books that were visibly used and dog eared, this book seemed almost untouched. This situation produced negativism among the population causing distress and hurting economic growth. In 1918, influenza swept through clark county, washington. Much of the high death rate can be attributed to crowding in military camps and urban environments, as well as poor nutrition and sanitation, which. All three pandemics were less widespread and less deadly than the 1918 pandemic. Why the second wave of the 1918 spanish flu was so deadly. Misconceptions about it may be fueling unfounded fears about covid19, and now is an especially good time to correct them.
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