The Great Influenza
The Global Impact Of The Great Influenza
The Great Influenza, which is also known at the “Spanish
Flu” and the “1918 flu pandemic” had killed
as many as 50 million to 100 million people worldwide between
1918 and 1919.
The great influenza was caused by an uncommonly harsh viral
strain of the Influenza A virus known as H1N1, and was spread
quickly during World War 1. In some places, the spread of
the great influenza was so great that almost everyday life
was brought to a halt. Stores were closed, and health care
workers were unable to attend to the needs of the sick due
to the fact that they fell ill themselves. There was even
a serious lack of manpower available to bury the victims who
died of the illness. Areas were forced to use steam shovels
to dig mass graves, and many of the victims were buried without
coffins.
It was strange that the viral strain of the great influenza
had killed many otherwise healthy victims, instead of the
high risk groups. It was a very rapidly progressing illness
that claimed lives of victims within a matter of days. Physicians
of the time described normal influenza symptoms that would
turn suddenly to severe pneumonia. Many victims suffocated
on their own body fluids. The effects impacted the people
all over the world, with whole villages being wiped out in
places like Alaska and southern Africa.
The Great Influenza vs World War 1
The great influenza had a incredible impact on the end of
World War 1. It is thought that half of the U.S. soldiers
that died in Europe fell to the great influenza rather than
to enemy troops.
The most likely reason for the severity of the spread was
the mass movement of troops during the war. Since the soldiers’
were probably weakened by the stress of combat on their bodies,
their immune systems might be too weak to fight the deadly
influenza virus. The advantage to living in a wartime society
was that the government was able to move in with restrictions
to attempt to contain the great influenza pandemic.
Since people were used to greater government control as a
result of the war, they were willing to put up with by additional
government restraints to grapple with the widespread illness.
Even with these advantages, it took eighteen months to completely
clean the virus that caused the great influenza.
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