1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic Analysis

In two years between 1918 and 1919, A pandemic of influenza swept mercilessly over the planet, killing millions which stood in its path. Miraculously, the exact origin of the pandemic is unclear. What is exceedingly clear, however, is that often the actions of man aided in the spread of the virus, whether due to inadvertent endangerment, close quarters, religious principles, or failure to recognize the true threat that influenza posed.

The book “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, written by John M. Barry, covers the progression of the Spanish influenza, especially in the United States. Barry focuses not only on the influenza itself, though, but also on the social influences that allowed the virus to flourish. The book covers how medical practices in the United States had risen up just in time to combat the virus, but, due to societal issues and the war, the doctors struggled in areas where they should have been successful.

In his nonfiction text, The Great Influenza, John M. Barry explains that scientific research is an uncertain process. Barry supports this explanation by using rhetorical strategies such as repetition and a metaphor. Barry’s purpose is to prove scientific research is a confident process that allows one to be courageous on the side of uncertainty. Barry uses formal tone with his audience that goes beyond researchers.

As the horrendous experiences of the First World War began to wind down, a new terror emerged in the form of the Spanish Influenza that circumnavigated the world, not once but twice within a two-year period. While the general public commonly remembered experiences of the war in literature, art, prose and memorials, those of the 1918 pandemic were not. Research completed by this author on the subject of German bias during the First World War found little mention of the influenza pandemic in The Burlington Hawk-Eye, the state?s longest continually operating newspaper, published in Burlington, Iowa. However, the Burlington Public Library Board, in its meeting minutes, recommended the

Every year, millions of people start talking about the influenza virus and getting their vaccines as the flu season approaches, which starts around the October-November period and reaches its peak between December and March. Therefore, public health officials around the world- and in the U.S in particular- are constantly challenged by properly preparing for the annual influenza dilemma, given that this viruses, and other respiratory viruses, are a serious health threat to the U.S population and the world as a whole. Furthermore, what makes the influenza virus even more challenging to control is that it can mutate rapidly and reassort to form new strains, having the ability to reside in multiple animal hosts. In fact, many scientists and researchers have been doing in-depth intensive research so as to understand the mechanism behind this unique characteristic of the virus, try to find new ways to control it, and explore different areas of protection and vaccination.

The book The Great Influenza by John Barry takes us back to arguably one of the greatest medical disasters in human history, the book focuses on the influenza pandemic which took place in the year 1918. The world was at war in the First World War and with everyone preoccupied with happenings in Europe and winning the war, the influenza pandemic struck when the human race was least ready and most distracted by happenings all over the world. In total the influenza pandemic killed over a hundred million people on a global scale, clearly more than most of the deadliest diseases in modern times. John Barry leaves little to imagination in his book as he gives a vivid description of the influenza pandemic of 1918 and exactly how this pandemic affected the human race. The book clearly outlines the human activities that more or less handed the human race to the influenza on a silver platter. “There was a war on, a war we had to win” (Barry, p.337). An element of focus in the book is the political happenings back at the time not only in the United States of America but also all over the world and how politicians playing politics set the way for perhaps the greatest pandemic in human history to massacre millions of people. The book also takes an evaluator look at the available medical installations and technological proficiencies and how the influenza pandemic has affected medicine all over the world.

Influenza, an innocent little virus that annually comes and goes, has always been a part of people’s lives. Knowing this, one would not believe that it has caused not one, not two, but three pandemics and is on its way to causing a fourth! The Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu of 1957, and the Hong Kong

Avian influenza is a disease that has been wreaking havoc on human populations since the 16th century. With the recent outbreak in 1997 of a new H5N1 avian flu subtype, the world has begun preparing for a pandemic by looking upon its past affects. In the 20th Century, the world witnessed three pandemics in the years of 1918, 1957, and 1968. In 1918 no vaccine, antibiotic, or clear recognition of the disease was known. Killing over 40 million in less than a year, the H1N1 strain ingrained a deep and lasting fear of the virus throughout the world. Though 1957 and 1968 brought on milder pandemics, they still killed an estimated 3 million people and presented a new

“It killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. – John Barry

A general practitioner could not be qualified as an expert because this person does not have any specialized knowledge of the Influenza virus. The professor, who wrote a paper on the long term effects of the virus can be considered an expert because the vaccination is claimed to have made the flu duration "longer and worse". Also, if the flu is long term, it has a longer period to be transmitted to other people, contributing to the spread of the flu. The epidemiologist investigates patterns of disease, so this person is obviously an expert. The public health Ph.D recipient studies the spread of influenza making him an expert as well.

I do not believe there will be another flu pandemic. There are now vaccines to prevent the flu. There are not as many people dying from the flu as in 1918 , there have been many test to see How the virus works. In all cases the flu has to run its course, because it is a virus. In 1918 fifity million people died from the flu, as of 2016 approximately 4000 people died of the flu statistically bringing the percentage way down. Most people in the world get vaccinate. I strongly think there will not be another pandemic because of the low rate of deaths and the help of vaccines. Science and technology has improved a lot since 1918. if you are afraid of needles they have technology you can get nasal mist. More advances in technology are improving

The 1918 pandemic instilled the notion that influenza was closely associated with war, with some scientists even explicitly referring to it as a war disease, because of the considerable impact it had on armed services personnel. Government officials convinced that influenza would appear with the outbreak of World War II, established the Commission on Influenza of the United States Army Epidemiological Board to provide technical advice and commence work on an effective vaccine. The heightened political attention to the threat of infectious diseases prompted the passage of new legislation that grants governments extended powers intervention (and ownership) by central governments in health care services, and resulted in millions of dollars worth

In my Duke Tip camp, I learned what a virus is, how it looks, how it spreads, and how we prevent it. Mainly, I learned about a specific virus: the influenza virus, also called the flu. For example, the Spanish flu in 1918 was an H1N1 virus, just like the swine flu in 2009. The students in my class understood that airports and planes are one of the main causes of a pandemic. Pandemics occur when viruses destroy humans worldwide. Highly populated viruses in countries, states, regions, and cities are classified as epidemics. Most epidemics form into pandemics. You can stop airborne viruses by sneezing into your elbow and then immediately washing it. With this knowledge we, as students were given, I hope to shape my future.The Influenza virus,

In the spring of 1918, the first wave of one of the deadliest influenza pandemics began plaguing its victims (Peters, ix). Over the span of three lethal waves, the pandemic claimed approximately forty million victims, eradicating nearly twenty percent of the entire world’s population, or about one out of five individuals (Peters, ix). To make matters more dire, the ill-suited medical community was exceptionally unprepared for such a wide-scale pandemic: Doctors had very basic tools, knew little about diseases, and had no experience with vaccinations or prevention (Peters, 1-5; “The 1920s: Medicine and Health: Overview”, n.p.). People blindly faced the epidemic, relying on folk remedies such as consuming wine, drinking antiseptic, and

The world has experienced a total of four pandemics within the twentieth century. These pandemics, as horrific and deadly as they are, have brought so much more positive advances to our health care system and how we prepare for biological threats. Although we are in the twenty-first century and we have advanced so far in healthcare, there is still the possibility of a deadly pandemic.