History Snapshots
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919
During the fall of 1918 and winter of 1919, the world was rocked by an epidemic of influenza known as the Spanish Flu. This strain was exceptionally lethal. During World War I nurse and 5,170 Texas died in the armed services, more than a third of these deaths occurred as a result of influenza. While precise information on the morality rate is impossible to establish, it is estimated twenty-five million Americans were infected, twenty-eight percent of the United States population, an estimated 675,000 to 850,000 died from the disease. The world wide death toll was estimated between 20 million to 40 million. The millions of soldiers deployed by the belligerent powers of World War I, facilitated the quick spread of influenza as they were demobilized and transported home.
It should be noted that in the early twentieth century many staple antibiotics and antiviral such as Penicillin had not yet been discovered, which limited treatment capabilities of medical doctors. Alexander Fleming published his research on Penicillium notatum in 1929, which generated little interest. It was not until the 1941 when Ernst Chain with the support of Oxford’s Howard Florey, after years of research, developed Penicillin into an effective vaccine.
For additional Resources consult:
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
The Navy Department Library: “The Pandemic of Influenza in 1918-1919” http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/influenza%20pan.htm
National Archives and Records and Records Administration: The Deadly Virus The Influenza Epidemic 1918. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/
