1-WWI+Influenza+Pandemic


 * __The Influenza Pandemic of 1919-20__ **


 * What were the characteristics of the 1919-20 pandemic flu, and why was it so much more virulent than typical annual strains? **

Also known as the Spanish flu, the influenza pandemic of 1919 is estimated to have ended the lives of around 20-30 million people. The disease affected more people in the 20-40 year age bracket than any other flu to come before it. This outbreak killed more people from 1919-1920 than the Black Plague in 14th century. Modern research has uncovered that the virulence of the disease was caused by an extremely resistant mutation of the influenza virus. Most people did not die from influenza itself, but from pneumonia or fever after their immune systems were weakened. There were a wide range of complications caused by influenza across the different waves of the disease and often people would become weakened by the disease, even after recovering, and become ill more than once. The general sentiment of continuing on even in the face of war motivated civilians and soldiers alike to exert themselves too much too quickly following a bout of influenza. These people were more likely to get sick a second or third time and to spread the disease to others. The second wave of influenza (around the summer of 1918 as the disease made its way back to the United States) was more intense, and many patients reported 106 degree fevers and bleeding from their ears or nose. Emerging medical technology did offer some strategies to combat the disease, such as improved ventilation and advising those infected to cover their mouths while coughing. The technology of vaccines, however, was relatively new and not able to keep up with the evolving influenza strain. The third wave of the pandemic struck during the Spring of 1919. This wave was as a whole less destructive and deadly than the second wave, and by the middle of 1919 the number of Spanish Flu cases was dwindling. http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1525784?terms=influenza+1918


 * To what extent was the spread and the effects of the flu pandemic a consequence of the Great War? Is it possible that without the war the disease would have been just as deadly? **

“ In the search for its cause, medical professionals could not separate the pandemic from the war itself. Only the war could have provided the proper conditions and allowed the explosion. For some, the pandemic and the war became connected even on a metaphorical level.” (Crookshank 1920-1921, 104).

The mobilization of troops sped the spread of the flu, from one of its first documented appearances in Camp Funston, Kansas in 1918. (link to picture of patients gathered at Camp Funston http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1525781?terms=influenza+pandemic) The disease was spread in the trenches of the Western front, where troops shared close quarters. The flu quickly reached Europe, Brazil, China, India, and the Philippines. Medical officers were unable to effectively investigate or contain the influenza because of constant troop transport. Many countries attempted to conceal the severity of what they were facing, to keep their enemies from viewing them as weak. As a result of the war, there was a severe shortage of medical personnel. Military doctors were overworked and often not able to give each patient enough attention and many civilian doctors were recruited to join the military, leaving those at home with less help. The effects of the flu may also have been heightened by their combination with war time rationing, starvation, trench combat, and exposure to poison gas. Without the war, it is likely that the flu would not have spread as quickly and more attention could have been placed on preventing the disease. The influenza would likely still have spread though, through trade and the War helped scientists and doctors to collaborate more effectively to try and find a solution.


 * To what extent were the effects of the flu pandemic attributable to other post-war conditions, such as resumption of peacetime economic activity, revolution, famine, social turmoil, and so on? **

Researchers have dubbed the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920 “the forgotten pandemic”. The effects of the war and the Spanish Flu are difficult to separate and many people overlooked the impact of the flu altogether because the epidemic ended right around the time The Great War came to a close. The social unrest, famine, and turmoil following the war both contributed to and were partially caused by the Spanish Flu. Many countries faced an extreme loss of working aged citizens (ages 20-40) both because of the Flu and as casualties to the war. This loss devastated economies worldwide and contributed to the tragedy of the war. It is difficult to track the economic and social implications of the influenza alone, due to a lack of data during the time of the war.

Sources:

http://www.questiaschool.com/read/1G1-313708424/medical-progress-and-the-influenza-pandemic-of-1918

http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/309754?terms=influenza+pandemic

http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Feature/Story/1325090?cid=1325088&terms=influenza+pandemic


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