Influenza Epidemic of 1918

By: Tudor Panait

Deaths

• An estimate of 50 million people died due to the Influenza that swept through the world in 1918.

• 1/5 of the worlds population had been affected and it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history.

How it Started

• This plague started out in 2 phases, first with the “Three-day fever” in early spring of 1918.

• It appeared without any warnings and it took a few lives yet many victims recovered after a few days.

• The disease came up again in the fall and it was more severe than ever. Scientists and doctors had no idea why and how it was spreading so quick. The virus became out of control.

Symptoms

• The symptoms were more than the basic influenza symptoms, fever, muscle ache but in addition, hemorrhage in the lungs and many cases victims’ lungs would fill with fluid and many would suffocate to death.

• Many were found dead in a few hours of experiencing this new virus.

Medicine

• The medicine of the time did not help cope with the virus. Many home remedies were used to help with the filling of lungs with fluids but very few proved to work.

• The virus eventually died out on it’s own without any specific cure, yet people were starting to take precautions and try to prevent it.

U.S response to the virus

• The United States was also greatly affected by the virus, over 25% of the United States population was affected by the virus.

• The United States began to take precautions though including using street cleaners and handing out masks to locals.

Ages mainly affected

• Though with many viruses young adults seem to be more immune to them, in this case it was the opposite.

• Many people of all ages were hit by the virus yet more people were killed by it in between the ages of 18-30. The virus affected young adults more than the rest.

Life in 1918

• Along with many people in poverty the virus made it even worse.

• Even with the weak medicine, you may have had a chance to live, if you were poor you had much less of a chance to live.

• Life became much harder with the addition of this virus along with the war in Europe, the last thing people needed was more people having to die.

Preventions

• There were different ways the world reacted to the virus, prevention was one that was quickly adopted by many.

• Funerals were limited to 15 minutes, Stores could not hold sales, and many people were to wear Gauze masks in public to keep from spreading the virus.

Hospitals

• Hospitals were full and many were built to hold those that are returning from overseas and immigrants.

• The red cross was also created to help with the flu epidemic, also there was a huge shortage of nurses to help with the sick in the hospitals.

Doctors/Nurses

• Doctors and nurses were always busy either with the sick at home or those returning from war with wounds and mustard gas burns.

• Nurses there were very few of and that caused a lot of pressure on the United States during the epidemic.

Schools

• Third and fourth year classes were closed and many of the students had to help nurses and doctors.

• Depending on the severity in the area a school would be closed, many were.

Cure

• During the time there was no set cure for the virus, many medicines did not work well against the virus and scientists never discovered it until a later year.

• The virus simply died out after a while, yet taking many lives.

Virus

• This virus was a very different type of virus the world has encountered, it would attack respiratory cells thus killing many people by causing them to stop breathing.

• Along with the respiratory cells being killed this virus also caused hemorrhage in the lungs which also caused breathing dificulties.

Virus (Continued)

• This virus was also something people did not have any immunity to, there were no vaccines preventing it and there was no previous weaker influenzas to help strengthen the immune systems of the people.

• The virus came to an end once people began to develop an immunity to it yet still being a high mortality factor in the world. There has not been another type of virus like this ever in the history of the world.

END