Q48. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide-about one-third of the planets population. It killed an estimated 20-50 million victims, including some 675000 Americans. The 1918 flu was observed in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. Military camps were the most fertile ground for the flu virus to spread, as the first world war going on and young people were recruited in the military at a fast pace. These young men came from different parts of the nation and some of them were the carriers of the flu virus. At the time there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer strain. Citizens were ordered to wear masks, wash hands and remain indoors, school, theaters and businesses were shut down and bodies piled up in the graveyard, before the virus ended its deadly global march. Spain was a neutral country during the World War I. Being a neutral country its media reports were unbiased and true about the flu, ultimately lending its name of both pathogen and pandemic itself as Spanish flu. However, experts realized the name Spanish flu was entirely misleading as an indicator of the germs origin. As we forgot to
learn from history, which lead to the birth of its new sibling known as COVID
19.
Q1. The causative agent of Spanish flu was
(a)
(b)
Bacteria
Virus
(c) Protozoa
(d) Bacteriophage
Q2. True or False
(a)
The Spanish flu originated from Spain.
(b) The spread of flu was faster due to World War I Q3. Suggest two precautions to be taken by an individual against Spanish flu.
Answers
Answer:
The first wave of the 1918 pandemic occurred in the spring and was generally mild. The sick, who experienced such typical flu symptoms as chills, fever and fatigue, usually recovered after several days, and the number of reported deaths was low.
However, a second, highly contagious wave of influenza appeared with a vengeance in the fall of that same year. Victims died within hours or days of developing symptoms, their skin turning blue and their lungs filling with fluid that caused them to suffocate. In just one year, 1918, the average life expectancy in America plummeted by a dozen years.
SEE PHOTOS: The 1918 Flu Campaigns to Shame People Into Following New Rules
What Caused the Spanish Flu?
It’s unknown exactly where the particular strain of influenza that caused the pandemic came from; however, the 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, America and areas of Asia before spreading to almost every other part of the planet within a matter of months.
Despite the fact that the 1918 flu wasn’t isolated to one place, it became known around the world as the Spanish flu, as Spain was hit hard by the disease and was not subject to the wartime news blackouts that affected other European countries. (Even Spain's king, Alfonso XIII, reportedly contracted the flu.)
One unusual aspect of the 1918 flu was that it struck down many previously healthy, young people—a group normally resistant to this type of infectious illness—including a number of World War I servicemen.
In fact, more U.S. soldiers died from the 1918 flu than were killed in battle during the war. Forty percent of the U.S. Navy was hit with the flu, while 36 percent of the Army became ill, and troops moving around the world in crowded ships and trains helped to spread the killer virus.
Although the death toll attributed to the Spanish flu is often estimated at 20 million to 50 million victims worldwide, other estimates run as high as 100 million victims—around 3 percent of the world’s population. The exact numbers are impossible to know due to a lack of medical record-keeping in many places.
What is known, however, is that few locations were immune to the 1918 flu—in America, victims ranged from residents of major cities to those of remote Alaskan communities. Even President Woodrow Wilson reportedly contracted the flu in early 1919 while negotiating the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I.
Why Was The Spanish Flu Called The Spanish Flu?
The Spanish Flu did not originate in Spain, though news coverage of it did. During World War I, Spain was a neutral country with a free media that covered the outbreak from the start, first reporting on it in Madrid in late May of 1918. Meanwhile, Allied countries and the Central Powers had wartime censors who covered up news of the flu to keep morale high. Because Spanish news sources were the only ones reporting on the flu, many believed it originated there (the Spanish, meanwhile, believed the virus came from France and called it the “French Flu.”)
READ MORE: Why Was It Called the 'Spanish Flu?'
Where Did The Spanish Flu Come From?
Scientists still do not know for sure where the Spanish Flu originated, though theories point to France, China, Britain, or the United States, where the first known case was reported at Camp Funston in Fort Riley, Kansas, on March 11, 1918.
Some believe infected soldiers spread the disease to other military camps across the country, then brought it overseas. In March 1918, 84,000 American soldiers headed across the Atlantic and were followed by 118,000 more the following month.