written by Krysta Pelayo
The Influenza Outbreak in 1918 was a brutal pandemic which took the lives of nearly 50 million people. How does the Influenza outbreak correlate with the recently discovered virus, COVID-19?
A virus that made a lasting impact on America and other countries around the world was the Influenza outbreak in 1918. What originated in an unknown area soon traveled to America, infecting nearly 500 million Americans, or ⅓ of the population in America. It was caused by the H1N1 gene, which is a respiratory infection. The virus was predicted to have come to America from avian transmission.
Overall, there were an estimated 675,000 deaths in America, and 50 million deaths worldwide.
During the 1910's, the population was slowly, but steadily, rising. As shown on the graph, there were no disruptions until 1917-1918, the year the influenza virus was ravaging through America. The population rate plateaus or even slightly decreases for those years. The deaths of the war may have contributed to the plateau, but the war took place through the 1910's, yet there were no other plateaus until 1918. Nearly 675,000 died during the pandemic which helped plateau the previously steady increasing population rate.
Why Was it so Infectious?
Influenza was disastrous because there was no vaccine to protect against influenza at the time. That factor, combined with the poor sanitation and hygiene helped spread a deadly virus. In 1918, World War I was still ravaging through America. Men were placed is poorly sanitized trenches, leaving a bigger room for infection. This was also due to the close proximity between men.
Although both are easily transmitted from person-to-person, Coronavirus is leaving less room for infections and deaths. In 1918, it was very hard to predict viruses or pinpoint when one was currently appearing. The finding of Coronavirus was able to have a quicker reaction time because there are more resources present in America in 2020 rather than 1918.
Overall, there were three waves of Influenza around the time of 1918. The first wave hit America fairly small. There were many cases of infections, but the death rate remained at a low amount. Not enough to be too alarming. Over the next year, the virus came and went 2 more times, each time being more fatal. How fatal the virus is also depends on age.
It was noticed that children above five and below fifteen had a lower death rate than all the other age groups. The highest death rates were present in newborns and people above 84 years old. It was also a very unusual disease because they noticed a spike of death rates in healthy adults. It was predicted that the spike in healthy adults was due to the increased infection rate between adults due to such close proximity.
During the fight against the influenza outbreak of 1918, there were no rules to lower the infection rates, such as quarantining. Currently, Americans are encouraged to stay at home to stop the spread of Covid-19. During 1918, the government did not want to stop helping the war efforts. Quarantining meant sending ammunition factory workers home and other essential war effort businesses. They did not want to risk it, so they continued close proximity. There were men close together in their trenches and in the hospitals.
During the trying times, they would place infected men and woman into a room with beds placed fairly close together. With the current Covid-19 crisis, it was recommended by the CDC that infected stay quarantined alone to help stop the spread of the disease. It's even recommended to stay 6 feet apart at all times. During the influenza pandemic, there were no strong regulations for the pandemic.
In addition to the poor sanitization, there were no men or women to help nurse people back to health. Many of the nurses were sent to the front line of the war to help with war efforts. This left the people back home to struggle without enough help. In America today, there were 2.86 million registered nurses in 2016, which continued to grow. Everyday, the nurses and other healthcare workers help battle the virus. In 1918, there was a shortage of help due to the large amount of nurses and healthcare workers being sent to the front lines.
There is a drastic difference in the control America has over Coronavirus than they did over the Influenza virus. There is more sanitation, ability to broadcast news, and overall medicine. Although there is no current cure for Coronavirus, there are still more ways that hospitals are able to treat the symptoms, such as respiratory issues. America is greatly broadcasting all the ways to stop the spread of the coronavirus while in 1918, they made no regulations to help slow infection rates. Overall, America is more prepared to handle situations such as pandemics, and quickly too.
Works Cited
Roos, Dave. “Why the Second Wave of the 1918 Spanish Flu Was So Deadly.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 3 Mar. 2020, www.history.com/news/spanish-flu-second-wave-resurgence.
“The Deadliest Flu: The Complete Story of the Discovery and Reconstruction of the 1918 Pandemic Virus.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Dec. 2019, www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html.
“Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
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