#spanishflu

[whencyclopedia]

1918 Flu Pandemic: The Deadliest Pandemic in History

The Spanish flu (so-named because the Spanish press openly reported on the outbreak while other World War I belligerents suppressed the news) broke out in March 1918 at Camp Funston, an army camp in Kansas, and struck young, healthy adults with greater ferocity than any other demographic group. Occurring in three waves (March-September 1918, September-December 1918, Spring-Summer 1919) and affecting nearly 500 million people worldwide, the death toll reached 50-100 million people. The conditions of the First World War, poor hygiene, overcrowded hospitals, poor eating habits, and the general lack of knowledge and treatment for viral infections all contributed to its lethality.

Origin & Spread

The pandemic started in Haskell County, Kansas. Known both for its cattle and hog herds, it was also the flyway for 17 migratory bird flocks. It seems most likely that the birds infected the hogs, and the hogs infected humans. In January-February 1918, Dr. Loring Miner reported the initial cases to the United States Public Health Service. As carriers of the virus, recruits reported for military duty at Camp Funston spread the disease to others in the camp during March-April 1918.

In this early, springtime phase of the outbreak, despite the hundreds of cases, there were very few deaths. In April, soldiers from Camp Funston began the journey to France, while others were dispatched to other US military installations. The bases, transport trains and ships, and frontlines were crowded and unsanitary, creating ideal conditions for the spread of an airborne, infectious disease.

At the peak of the pandemic in October-November 1918, the mortality rate amongst soldiers on the Western Front reached 2%, while reports from India indicated a mortality rate of 10%. The third phase of the pandemic in 1919 was worsened by soldiers returning from the war through ports and military bases along the coast. These types of occurrences became familiar in port cities all around the world.

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⇒ 1918 Flu Pandemic: The Deadliest Pandemic in History

[victorianchap]

🔸photograph of 2 fashionable ladies coping with the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 . Source: Tumblr- post Tenebras Lux. #victorianchap #vintage #retro #oldphoto #edwardian #portrait #goodolddays #spanishflu #epidemic #coronavirus #1910s #fashion #victorian #history #edwardianera #nostalgia https://www.instagram.com/p/B91DwECgqlh/?igshid=lnnexvrgxv1o

[scott1984fp]

Idiot @SajidJavid ( @SajidJavid ), World Didn't Learn To Leave With Spanish Flu ,Until Many Years After: 1918 - 1920/1920+ This Was When It Became Manageable & Seasonal Patterned Winter ❄️ Flu, Covid Will Take 2-5+ Years To Become Seasonal Patterned & NOT DAILY AROUND WORLD :( @Keir_Starmer ( @KeirStarmer ) :/ #Screenshots #Screenshot #Scott1984FP #SocialMedia #Tumblr #Twitter #Instagram #FB #FaceBook #Uk #LBC #LBCNews #LBCRadio #TorySCUM #ToryParty #SajidJavid #BorisJohnson #Uk #CoronaVirusUk #Covid19Uk #Covid19 #CoronaVirus #Flu #SpanishFlu #PandemicHistories #Pandemics #RT #Share (at Bedford, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CY797kPowTA/?utm_medium=tumblr

[survivalsmartsblog]

Spanish Flu: A Warning From History

A simple site about survivalism, homesteading, bushcraft, prepping and off grid living. Because you never know.

History tends to repeat itself. 

[usnatarchives]

Influenza Epidemic 1918- “Wear a mask and save your life”

NYC letter carriers.  Archives ID 45499319.

Boston Red Cross workers make masks for soldiers Archives ID 45499341.

A Seattle streetcar driver refuses access to a non-masked rider. Archives ID 45499311.

NYC typist. Image caption: “Aroused by hold that disease has taken...practically every worker has muffled their faces in gauze masks as a protection against disease.” Archives ID 45499377.

Image caption: “To successfully combat the influenza which has stricken a number of our army and navy boys, a special camp has been fitted up on the ground of the Correy Hill Hospital in Brookline, Mass.” Archives ID 45499297

NYC Traffic cop in gauze mask. Archives ID 45499301.

Boston hospital nurses model mask options Archives ID 45499377.

By Dena Lombardo, Intern, Office of Public and Media Communications.

Before the Coronavirus hit, the most severe pandemic in recent history was the 1918 influenza virus, aka “the Spanish Flu.”  The virus infected roughly 500 million people --  one-third of the world’s population -- and caused  50 million deaths worldwide and 675,000 in the U.S. alone.  More than 25 percent of the U.S. population caught the virus, and in one year alone the average life expectancy in the United States dropped by 12 years. The global toll was more than double the number of lives lost in World War One.

“Wear a Mask and Save Your Life” was the directive -- not recommendation -- from the Red Cross and other health organizations.  Newspapers carried this slogan with the additional warning:  “Doctors wear them. Those who do not wear them get sick. The man or woman or child who will not wear a mask is now a dangerous slacker.”

The New York Board of Health acknowledged that while masks were not attractive, “better be ridiculous than dead.”  

Red Cross workers worked long hours to increase production of 260,000 gauze masks for wide distribution by the police to civilians and soldiers. Some Ohio Red Cross workers were so dedicated that even when their unit was temporarily closed because of the virus, they continued to produce masks in their homes.  

Recognizing the shortage of medical workers, in October of 1918, Congress authorized $1 million -- equivalent to almost $19 million today --  for the Public Health Service to recruit 1,000 medical doctors and 700 registered nurses.

With no vaccine to  protect against the virus and few medications to lessen the symptoms, people were urged to isolate, quarantine, practice good personal hygiene, and limit social interaction.

See related images and documents in the National Archives online exhibit The Deadly Virus:  The Influenza Epidemic of 1918.

[nick-arts001]

Plagues of our Past

While I know that we are still living in the full force of the nightmare that is called COVID-19, I have found that it is beast to learn from our past a see what we can do to make sure that this situation doesn’t cause more suffering.

The Reason why I had made these pieces for the project that I was working on was due the simple fact that I am fascinated by history. However, there is much more to go over than being a simple history buff, I find that without learning from our past we are bound to repeat the tragedies that so many have lived through. 

[moonshot5]

[impermanent-art]

New collab by Life A fter Death and MegZany in Los Angeles. The image is a hundred-year-old photo taken during the height of the Spanish flu pandemic: 50 million dead, humanity still managed to bounce back.