The Spanish flu, also known as La Grippe and the Spanish Lady, was one of the most devastating epidemics in human history. It didn’t affect just one or two continents, it attacked the entire human population in just one year’s time.
Killed More People Than World War I
It is hard to imagine that something as common as the flu could kill more people than a major war, but that is the case when it comes to the Spanish flu. World War I, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, claimed about 16 million lives. The Spanish flu lasted from 1918 to 1919 and managed to kill over 50 million people worldwide. The virus acted so quickly that it touched the lives of one fifth of the human population.
While there was more cross country travel during the war than was usual in the early 1900s, imagine just how quickly a major flu virus could spread today. Not only from the massive amount of world travel today, but also through our larger cities, schools, and hospitals. [SOURCE 1]
Dying A Few Hours After Feeling Symptoms
Aside from a death toll of over 50 million people, a frightening fact about the Spanish flu is that a number of people didn’t experience any flu-like symptoms until a few hours before their death. The fast acting flu could invade a person’s body and shortly thereafter the victim would begin to feel sick. A few hours after that, the victim would be dead.
The 1918 flu spread so quickly among some communities that many victims were quickly buried in order to stop the spread of the virus. They were never named or counted, which is why some death toll estimates reach as high as 100 million victims of the Spanish flu. [SOURCE 2]
Did Not Originate In Spain
In spite of its name, the Spanish flu did not originate in Spain. In fact, it may have started in the United States. Researchers found a report that soldiers on the Fort Riley military base in Kansas became ill in March of 1918. It began with one soldier who developed a fever and within hours, roughly 100 more soldiers came down with the illness. A report was filed with the Public Health Service that 18 soldiers had severe influenza.
By May of 1918, reports of severe influenza started to trickle in throughout Europe. It was attacking young men, those who were in the prime of their lives. During this initial wave, many of the victims recovered, although some developed secondary pneumonia and passed away. [SOURCE 2, 3]
It Killed Mostly Young Adults
Most flus severely affect both young children and the elderly. On the other hand, the Spanish flu seemed to attack those who were between 20 and 35 years of age. This is the general age group of the men and women who were serving in the military during World War I.
The young men who were carrying the Spanish flu in the United States were shipped off to Europe to spread it among other young soldiers in the trenches and on ships.
Soldiers who returned from the war may have introduced the flu to the cities and their hometowns, causing an unbelievable pandemic that was far worse than the Black Plague. [SOURCE 2]
It Happened In Three Waves
The Spanish flu happened in three distinct waves. The first wave was in the spring of 1918. Reports from the time show that it was a mild flu. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers became ill, but most of them lived through wave one.
By fall of 1918 the virus had mutated and became deadly. The second wave of the flu was the deadliest wave. In October, an estimated 195,000 Americans died from this 2nd wave flu. In Spain, about 147,114 deaths from the flu occurred in 1918 and about 45 percent of those deaths occurred in October. This was a flu unlike any other in known history.
The third wave occurred in the winter of 1918 and 1919. It was almost as deadly as the second wave. [SOURCES 4, 5, 6]
Impossible To Quarantine
It seems logical that whenever someone started coming down with the Spanish flu’s symptoms, many hospitals would quarantine that person to prevent spreading the virus even further. However, it was not enough. People who were infected with the virus did not show any symptoms for several days. During this time, the victims were contagious and were actively, although unknowingly, spreading the flu. [SOURCE 7]
Basic Symptoms
Most of the symptoms of the Spanish flu are just what we would expect from any flu, with a few exceptions. The Spanish flu usually began with an increase in body temperature, anywhere from 102 to 104 degrees. The fever might also come with a headache, sore throat, body aches, lethargy, and bloodshot eyes. Coughing and violent, spouting out of the nose, nosebleeds could also occur. Some patients also had what sounds like stomach flu: diarrhea and vomiting.
None of it was pleasant, but many patients who suffered from these first-wave symptoms did recover. [SOURCE 3]
Relapse And Death
If you recovered from round one of the Spanish flu, you might have thought you were pretty lucky and could go on your merry way. Not so. Many people who survived the first part of the flu relapsed and died.
During the relapse, their temperatures would spike again. This time, the virus would create severe respiratory issues. This included severe nasal congestion and breathing problems. Due to lack of oxygen patients would eventually turn blue, giving the Spanish flu the name of The Blue Death. Autopsies at the time revealed lungs swollen with a frothy, blood-red substance. The victims suffocated as a result of the flu. [SOURCES 3, 8, 9]
No Cure
There is no cure for the flu. You can get vaccinated against certain strains of the flu, but it is currently impossible to become immune to all the variations of the flu, especially since the virus strains change and mutate.
During the Spanish flu epidemic, doctors attempted to come up with a vaccine for this flu variation. Unfortunately, they did not have the knowledge we do today about viruses. In fact, many doctors at that time believed that the Spanish flu was caused by a bacteria and not a virus.
In spite of the lack of a medical cure, people did claim to know how to survive the Spanish flu using home remedies. Desperate people tested out just about everything, from the patent medicines found in drugstores to cupping. One woman claimed that the cure was simply drinking salt water mixed with coal oil. [SOURCE 3]
Scientists Have Recreated The Virus
Most people are terrified that scientists will build a super virus that could rival the Spanish Flu in deaths, and they have every right to be afraid. Recently, in 2014, a report came out that scientist have, in fact, recreated the Spanish Flu through a process known as reverse genetics. The group of scientists wanted to see how easily the virus could spread among laboratory ferrets, claiming that the research was necessary to thwart any future flu pandemics.
Other researchers backed away from the study, claiming that recreating the Spanish Flu was dangerous and irresponsible. If the engineered version of the flu escaped the lab, it could cause an even greater pandemic than the original Spanish Flu. [SOURCE 10]
Sources:
1. https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/
2. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AvianFlu/story?id=1183172
3. http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/the_pandemic/influenza/index.html
4. http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contagion/influenza.html
5. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/12/1/pdfs/05-0979.pdf
6. http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/5/668.full
7. http://magazine.jhsph.edu/2004/fall/prologues/
8. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4946718
9. http://www.livestrong.com/article/74432-symptoms-spanish-influenza/
