The timeline of the Spanish Flu was 1918-1919, with a first, milder wave which killed as most flus do, elderly, those with other health issues. The second wave started the fall of that same year and it was much more deadly, with a lot of cytokine storm type deaths. According to Smithsonian it eventually became less deadly: “ partly because many human immune systems now recognized it and partly because it lost the ability to easily invade the lungs. No longer a bloodthirsty murderer, it evolved into a seasonal influenza.”
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journal-plague-year-180965222/
Here’s a technical paper on mutation:
“RNA viruses have much higher mutation rates, perhaps one mutation per virus genome copy. Mutations can be deleterious, neutral, or occasionally favorable. Only mutations that do not interfere with essential virus functions can persist.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8439/
Right. (My Dad was a forest geneticist, among other things. I picked up a little (little!) of the general stuff from him.)
the use of aspirin (and possibly a lack of vit c) killed the Spanish flu folks. They took ‘em by the handful. Suppressed fever allowed the virus to run rampant, aspirin inhibited mucus clearance, aspirin overdose thinned blood resulted in ARDS, cardiac and kidney issues, and the more aspirin they took, the faster it was over. (hm..sounds familiar)
The admitted patients in Wuhan were given antibotics (which wiped out their good bacteria) and vitamin shots - one or both in an IV. SOP for Chinese for some crazy reason, but the combo thins the blood and kills half the body’s natural defenses. I don’t know if they suppressed the fever, but with two strikes they didn’t get off to a good start imo.