Influenza Pandemic Of 1918 Essay

World War 1 was a moment in American history that will forever leave its mark. There were positive and negative factors that came as a result of this brutal bloodshed. There were new types of technology formed that proved useful to our military, new tools, and leaps in medical advances that that helped push the medical fields to its limits and a greater acceptance of women. Despite the bloodshed of world war 1, it was the impetus of the medical advances that help shape the world we live in today.

Panic spread among people and tore families apart. Many sailors came down with the influenza and had to be quarantined at docks.

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

In the early 20th century, when the influenza was barely spreading, many people had a negative feeling, they felt fear, therefore, it led to many responses. In some cases, people responded with religious measures, as they believed it was a message from God, therefore, their actions toward the epidemic were guided by their religion.

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 World War One diseases were one of the biggest problem for the solders due to lack of hygiene, medical assistance and little medicine. The most common diseases that the soldiers faced in the war were influenza, typhoid, trench foot, trench fever, malaria, dysentery and diabetes. These disease were caused by soldiers being exposed to cold, wet, windy and damp conditions.

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.

Medical care was as scarce as clean water. Basic medical care was rudimentary. Describing the situations as “incredibly unhygienic” would be an understatement. War fatalities were the immediate effects of the Great War and the incredible spread of a disease was a later one. As a matter of fact, more people died from the Great Influenza Pandemic than from World War One (Tauenberger1).

This sort of environment was the perfect place for the Spanish influenza to begin its deadly streak. On March 11, the first cases of the Spanish flu showed up. The doctors did not worry; they believed it was just the flu. However, case after case of influenza came in, and by the week’s end, 522 people were sick. In the end, 48 soldiers died of influenza, and all their deaths were listed as pneumonia because of their frightening symptoms: labored breathing, violent coughs and nosebleeds, high fever, fluid filling the lungs, etc. However, quite suddenly, the influenza disappeared from Fort Riley (Iezzoni 23-24) and followed the path forged by the soldiers rushing to World War 1. It eventually spread around the world (Billings 2).

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

One of the most virulent strains of influenza in history ravaged the world and decimated the populations around the world. Present during World War I, the 1918 strain of pandemic influenza found many opportunities to spread through the war. At the time, science wasn’t advanced enough to study the virus, much less find a cure; medical personnel were helpless when it came to fighting the disease, and so the flu went on to infect millions and kill at a rate 25 times higher than the standard.

Influenza is well-defined as a minor, but commonly epidemic disease that occurred in several of ways, also caused by numerous of rapidly mutating viral strains. It characterized by the respiratory symptoms and general prostration. The Spanish flu was not a normal epidemic, it was a dangerous pandemic. Epidemics affect individuals at the same time in areas where the disease does not normally spread. A pandemic is an epidemic on a national, international, or global scale. The Spanish flu was different from a usual flu in one big great terrifying way, which had a remarkably high death rate between healthy individuals around the age fifteen to thirty four. There has been such a high death rate in this type if age group in an epidemic prior to or since the Spanish flu of 1918.

An epidemic occurs when a disease spreads to more people in one area then usually happens. There have been many epidemics in history that have had devastating effects. Two epidemics that occurred right here in the United States were cholera and scarlet fever. From the 1830’s to the 1860’s, cholera spread throughout the United States killing many people. And in the late 1850’s scarlet fever spread throughout the New England area of the United States. For both of these terrible diseases it is not clear what stopped their rapid spread. Today there is a vaccine for cholera but not for scarlet fever. However, there are ways to protect yourself from catching these diseases. New and stronger illnesses seem to be happening all the time and are in the news. However, we still need to be aware of these diseases from the past so we can keep ourselves healthy.

John M. Barry, the author of The Great Influenza, writes about scientists and the obstacles they face. He claims that scientists are explorers in the wilderness that is science. There is no charted path to go down and no one to follow. Scientists will always be uncertain, however scientists should possess certain characteristics to overcome the doubt. He appeals to our emotions to explain the necessary characteristics a scientist has to posses. John M. Barry uses anaphoras, motifs, and pathos in his definition of what scientists do.

Admittedly, since the beginning of time, disease has played a drastic role in the history of society. It has affected economic conditions, wars, and natural disasters. The impact of any disease can be far greater than some far better known catastrophes. In 1918, an epidemic of influenza swept the globe, killing between 20 million and 40 million people. Within a few months, more than 500,000 Americans had died. This is a number far greater than the number of people killed during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War