Spanish Pandemic Influenza

At the beginning of last year, the COVID-19 swept the world, and all countries in the world suffered from it. In the history of human development, large-scale infectious diseases have always been the biggest enemy of human survival. Especially before modern times, medical technology was extremely underdeveloped. When infectious diseases appear, people are always helpless and have to wait for death. The final result is often ten rooms with nine vacant rooms.

Before the COVID-19 spread, a very similar epidemic spread all over the world in a short time, resulting in countless deaths.

The epidemic occurred between 1918 and 1919, and because Spain was the first to detect and report the epidemic, countries around the world became aware of it, so it is also known as Spanish flu.

This epidemic that occurred a hundred years ago is still talked about to this day. How much harm has it caused to countries around the world, and how has it ultimately disappeared? Compared with the current COVID-19, who is stronger and who is weaker?

1 Where does Spanish flu originate from?

Many people instinctively believe that the name Spanish flu originated in Spain, but in fact, it is not. So far, there is no accurate explanation as to where this unprecedented epidemic originated. Some people say that this epidemic originated in Asia, but this claim has no basis and should be deliberately smeared.

Some people believe that the epidemic originated from a British military camp stationed in France, because in 1916, a disease called "suppurative bronchitis" broke out in this camp. The symptoms of this disease are very similar to the 1918 epidemic, but similar diseases have not been found in other regions in historical literature during the same period. In addition to these two views, there is also a view that the Spanish flu actually originated in Kansas, USA. Why?

In the spring of 1918, a flu outbreak broke out in Kansas. At first, people only thought it was a common flu. But not long after, a highly contagious flu appeared in Brest, Spain and quickly swept across Spain, then spread to Europe and even the world.

At that time, many people associated it with the flu in the United States. The United States and Spain are separated by thousands of miles. How can there be a correlation between the flu in the two countries? Actually, it is related to the historical background at that time.

In July 1914, the First World War broke out, involving multiple countries in Europe and even Asia. However, this war did not last long, and by 1917 it was nearing its end, with the scale of victory tilting towards the Allied forces led by Britain and France. At this moment, the United States, which had never participated in the war before, suddenly announced its intention to send troops to Europe to assist the Allied Powers, and after announcing its participation in the war, expanded its army from several hundred thousand to millions.

As mentioned earlier, influenza had already appeared in the United States before 1918, and at this time, the US government had gathered a large number of soldiers in military camps without taking any protective measures, leading to the rapid spread of influenza in US military camps. In the process of continuous transmission, influenza is also developing and its infectivity is greatly enhanced. In this situation, the US government still insists on sending a large number of soldiers to Europe by sea.

In late September 1918, the US military transport ships carried tens of thousands of soldiers to Europe. As is well known, influenza is easy to spread in enclosed spaces with poor air circulation, so a large number of soldiers were infected with influenza after sailing. However, the ship did not turn back, but continued to move towards Europe and finally landed in Brest. The Spanish flu was first discovered here, so it is highly likely to have originated in the United States.

Due to the US government's inaction, the originally ordinary flu gradually evolved into a contagious and destructive epidemic under the catalysis of US military camps, and with the participation of the United States in the war, it spread to Europe and then to the world. So what kind of harm has this epidemic brought to the world?

II 100 million people have died?

Firstly, we need to clarify that this epidemic is only classified as influenza in medical classification, which means that it is actually the same disease as the flu we often get during seasonal changes and is not very serious. But the terrifying aspect of this epidemic is that it is not only contagious like influenza, but also has a very high mortality rate.

According to historical records, initially, people infected with Spanish flu only experienced symptoms such as headache, systemic pain, fever, difficulty breathing, and mental fatigue., And there is basically no critical illness. Although there were many infections, the number of deaths was small. Under the less advanced medical conditions at the time, the mortality rate of this flu was only 3%. According to the popular saying in the United States, "this is at best a big flu.".

But soon, this situation underwent a huge change. In September 1918, the contagiousness and mortality rate of influenza began to break out. Usually, more than two-thirds of soldiers in a unit are hospitalized due to influenza, and the mortality rate increases from approximately 3% to over 10%. The scariest thing is that this flu seems to be targeting young adults. Most of the deceased patients are young adults aged 20-40.

Because once a person is infected with this flu, the immune system will produce a stress response, leading to ineffective oxygen supply to the lungs. The stronger the immune system, the stronger the stress response. So the strong immune system of young adults became a catalyst for death at this time. Their lungs are unable to provide oxygen at all, and they often die from hypoxia. But even women and children with poor immunity can escape.

There are different opinions on how many people have died from this flu. At present, the most conservative statement is that 21 million people have died from this disease, but this number has not been recognized by epidemiologists. The mainstream view is that the Spanish flu in 2019 is the deadliest flu in human history, with a total of 1 billion infections and 50 to 100 million deaths as a result. In 1918, the global population was only over 2 billion, which means that nearly half of the world's population was infected with this flu. This terrible flu claimed countless lives, but by 1920, it gradually disappeared. Why?

III The Mysterious Disappearance of Influenza

In fact, the disappearance of the Spanish flu was not an artificial effort, but a voluntary retreat. The epidemic influenza that began to spread in the spring of 1918 disappeared from the world in the summer of 1920. It took a little over two years from discovery to disappearance. It seems like a sickle used by the Grim Reaper to harvest life. After harvesting enough, Death brought it back. Until now, humans have not figured out why this epidemic started or ended, and can only make some guesses based on some epidemiological principles.

Firstly, some people have noticed that the end of the epidemic occurred in summer, so they speculate that the reason for the final disappearance of the epidemic is the increase in temperature and humidity in summer, which reduces the survival rate and transmission speed of the influenza virus. This can be verified by the disappearance of SARS.

Secondly, the rampant spread of the virus has led people to spontaneously take protective measures such as self isolation, thereby cutting off the transmission route of the virus and narrowing its transmission range. Furthermore, due to the large-scale spread of influenza, most humans have gained immunity, resulting in a "herd immunity" effect. Finally, this influenza virus gradually "detoxifies" over a long period of evolution, greatly reducing its harm and ultimately leading to the disappearance of this epidemic.

At present, all these speculations are scientific, but the reason for the disappearance of this epidemic has not yet been determined. The academic community tends to believe that the disappearance of this epidemic is the result of a combination of the above reasons. A hundred years have passed, and this flu is often described as a classic case of an epidemic, always referred to as the worst epidemic in history. But after all, more than 100 years have passed since this epidemic, and people cannot directly feel the terrifying extent of that epidemic.

Until last year, the emergence of the COVID-19 made people feel vulnerable again in the 21st century. This epidemic has turned the world upside down. As of May this year, the cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide have reached nearly 160 million, and the number of deaths has reached more than 3 million.

And even now, the epidemic is still in a period of rapid expansion with no signs of weakening, and there are even several countries with hundreds of thousands of new confirmed cases every day. Looking back at history, it can be found that this epidemic has many similarities with the Spanish flu a hundred years ago, but there are also many differences. So what is the difference between these two? Which would pose greater harm?

Let's first talk about the similarities between the two epidemics. These two epidemics spread very quickly and had a particularly wide range. The Spanish flu has spread to Europe, Asia and Africa, the Americas, Oceania, and even islands in the Pacific have been infected. Up to now, the COVID-19 has spread to more than 200 countries around the world, even the primitive tribes in the tropical rainforest have not been spared.

Secondly, according to the current data, the Spanish flu is far more harmful than the COVID-19, which can be seen from the mortality rate. However, the reason why Spanish flu has such a high mortality rate is not because its toxicity is stronger than COVID-19, but because of the low level of medical care a hundred years ago. At that time, etiology had not yet developed, and there was not even a concept of viruses. Scientists generally believe that the epidemic is caused by pathogens, so they are trying to treat patients with antibiotics. This treatment method of "cow's head not horse's mouth" basically means that patients can only rely on "self-healing" to recover their health.

In addition, the number of people eventually infected with Spanish influenza is much higher than that of COVID-19. Many readers may wonder why this flu spread on such a large scale a hundred years ago when there was almost no communication among countries around the world? In fact, this was caused by the First World War.

During World War I, armies from various countries gathered in Europe and returned to their respective countries with the end of the war. At that time, there was no common sense of medical isolation in countries around the world, so these soldiers became mobile pathogens upon returning home, accelerating the spread of the flu. Nowadays, countries around the world have greatly increased their awareness of protection. After the outbreak of the epidemic, most of them took protective measures to varying degrees, which greatly slowed down the spread of COVID-19.

Finally, the Spanish flu is not as persistent as COVID-19. The Spanish flu lasted for over two years and then disappeared. Now, the COVID-19 has spread for nearly a year and a half, but there is no sign that it will subside. Even in some countries, the epidemic is becoming increasingly severe. Moreover, at present, COVID-19 has begun to show various variations, and no one can predict what extent they will eventually develop.

A hundred years apart, both epidemics have brought enormous disasters to humanity. Modern technology is vulnerable to these viruses, which makes people feel insignificant in the face of nature. In the future development process, countries around the world should remember their lessons and attach importance to the harmonious development between humans and nature, in order to better survive on Earth.