Posted on 01/02/2021 4:14:32 PM PST by CheshireTheCat
In 1918 and 1919, the novel H1N1 “Spanish flu” virus killed between 50 million and 100 million people—as much as 5 percent of the world’s population—mostly within a few months, making the contemporaneous mass murder of World War I look like a bagatelle. The pandemic was, Laura Spinney writes in her book Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World, “the greatest tidal wave of death since the Black Death, perhaps in the whole of human history.”
No one knows for sure where it started. There was no ground zero, no “Wuhan.” It may have begun in Europe or in East Asia, but the first confirmed cases appeared in rural Haskell County, Kansas, with the first large and verified outbreak erupting at an army base there. Soldiers traveling to World War I battlefields then spread it to Europe; and from there, it encircled the globe.
The H1N1 virus of 1918 was roughly 25 times more lethal than the seasonal flu and also more deadly than the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes Covid-19, especially as the latter’s mortality rate is declining now that we’re better able to treat it. It killed an estimated 2.5 percent of its victims. Life expectancy in the United States plunged by more than ten years. This was partly due to the flu itself—at its peak, it killed more people than everything else combined—and partly because it knocked hospitals out of commission almost everywhere, preventing doctors and nurses from treating much else...
(Excerpt) Read more at city-journal.org ...
A few years ago there were stories that the flu of this era had similarities to the 1918 times. Young people had sronger cell walls and were able to nurture the deadly virus so it could fully develop whereas older people’s were too fragile, so many more young died. At some times the troop requirements were not met due to so many young men dying before getting into battle.
Of course its awful...but what is...is. Everyone has worked their butts off taking care of the sick.
And what is Cuomo doing?? Why going to the Buffalo Game of course....surrounded by 7000 patrons.
Restaurants remain closed in NY.
Both my 2 parents, and my wife’s 2 parents were born in 1920,
which means that all 8 of our grandparents survived that plague.
Does that 1.8 million deaths in 2020 include those in very bad health who would have died from something else during 2020 from Flu, cancer, heart failure, diabetes, etc.
My Grandmother died of the Spanish Flu at 26. My Dad was only 5 months old.
I would not be here if my parents who got married in 1925 had perished from the flu. I am now in my 80’s.
My grandfather died in 1920 from tuberculosis when my father was 2 weeks old.
People die.
I’m sure it does.
meaningless, if you don’t adjust for population.
Wikipedia: The Spanish flu infected around 500 million people, about ***one-third of the world’s population...death toll is typically estimated to have been somewhere between 20 million and 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million..END EXCERPT
therefore, 2.5 billion people would have to be infected by covid; between 100 million and 500 million would have to die from COVID.
CDC: 1918 Pandemic (H1N1 virus) (Spanish flu)
The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about ***675,000 occurring in the United States...
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html
US population 1918: 103 million
therefore, adjusted for population, equivalent US deaths from COVID for USA would be 2,160,000 deaths(approx).
Great work. Also you should adjust for demographics. The Spanish flu was most deadly among young adults. The current bug is nothing in comparison.
1918 Spanish Flu about 6 times as deadly per capita than COVID-19 is so far:
1. 1918 USA Influenza Pandemic:
USA Population: 103,208,000
675,000 flu fatalities (est.) = 0.00654 fatalities per capita
2. 2020 USA COVID-19 Pandemic as of 1-2-2021:
USA Population: 331,002,651
358,517 COVID-19 fatalities = 0.00108 fatalities per capita
3. 1957-1958 USA Influenza Pandemic:
USA Population: 171,984,130
116,000 flu fatalities (est.) = 0.000675 fatalities per capita
4. 1968-1969 USA Influenza Pandemic:
USA Population: 200,706,052
100,000 flu fatalities (est.) = 0.000498 fatalities per capita
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/basics/past-pandemics.html
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
That’s right. No circumstances are the same.
My aunt died at 82 and the same morning, her granddaughter gave birth to a beautiful girl.
The Spanish flu probably saved my granddad’s life. He was due to go over to France when he got sick with the flu. His life expectancy as a 2nd lt. in the artillery was not good. By the time he recovered the war was almost over.
My father died of TB in 1938....we were 5 and 2.
.
History says we lost more troops to the SF than to the war.
Penicillin and similar work on bacteria, not viruses. They don’t help at all there.
We’ve been through plagues before, and yet I’m pretty sure there weren’t such entitled whiners complaining about things in 1918, 1647, 541 etc.
Tuberculosis has been going nuts in much of the third world because a lot of health money has been diverted towards COVID, and while some of you don’t want to believe it’s an issue, for reasons I cannot fathom... (Oh. Wait. it’s political bias.)
It’s killing people. Stop doing the political posturing and realize that.
And if you see me in a grocery store wearing a mask... Guess what? I’m protecting YOU from ME, not the other way around.
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