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I saw a PBS program several years ago about the so called “Spanish Flu’.

I was truly amazing to me to learn how bad it really was. You would see a healthy looking neighbor pass you by on the street one day and a just a day or two later find you’d learn he was dead.

Philadelphia was one American city particularly hard hit. There were not enough coffins or mortuaries to keep up with the demand. Dead bodies lied in their homes for days and days.

And the epidemic may have even ended WWI earlier than the hostilities might have. I’ve read that more soldiers actually succumb to the flu or it’s complications than actually died as a result of enemy fire.

But for some strange reason, perhaps the culture at the time, there seemed to be a national if not world wide amnesia about what happened – people at the time did not want to talk about it later and thus later generations didn’t learn how bad it really was.

This flu, unlike most others since, took the young adults and healthiest among the population and just why is still a mystery that haunts scientists even today. So hopefully this research can help. I think we are complacent to think, even with our medical advances, that something like this can’t happen today.

Think about our big cities and the large number of working poor and immigrant populations who might not seek medical attention until it’s too late added to the speed of international travel. Yes we’ve had some false alarms and things blown out of proportion but I do think that a potential killer lies in wait.

Like Hurricane Katrina, it’s not a matter of if but when. The good news is we are hopefully better prepared to contain the eventual pandemic now more than ever before.

"But for some strange reason, perhaps the culture at the time, there seemed to be a national if not world wide amnesia about what happened – people at the time did not want to talk about it later and thus later generations didn’t learn how bad it really was."

You're right. I'm 51, and I didn't know about this until about 10 years ago. I was kind of shocked that something of that magnitude would not be common knowledge.

I think we are complacent to think, even with our medical advances, that something like this can’t happen today.

I agree. In our reliance on antibiotics to kill what ails you, as a culture we have let the most basic of sanitary habits fade away.

I am afraid there would be a period when any pandemic disease would spread like wildfire, partly because so many are clueless about containing their own germs, and partly because diseases hyped in the press which seem to affect few would lead many people to ignore initial reports as more hype.

With air travel, in 24 hours the damage would be done.