The Influenza Pandemic of 1918
Between 1918-1919 an influenza A virus (H1N1) caused a pandemic infection that would lead to the death of 50-100 million people worldwide, infecting a fifth of the population.
The influenza of 1918 killed more people in two years than in the four years of the bubonic plague, the Black Death and according to author John Barry of the Great Influenza, the virus "killed more people in twenty-four months than AIDS killed in twenty-four years."
Of those who died from the Spanish Flu an estimated 675,000 were Americans.
Sources CDC.
Image: Public health poster from Spanish flu era January 1918. Tuberculosis Association. Wikimedia. Public Domain.
The 1918 Flu Virus
The possible source of the 1918 influenza A virus was a newly emerged virus from a swine or an avian host of a mutated H1N1 virus.
Bird Flu Virus Picture (1918 Flu Virus). ID#:8243. CDC. Dr. Terrence Tumpey / Cynthia Goldsmith, 2005. Public domain.
1918 Flu Pandemic on Wikipedia
Category: File - :1918 flu outbreak2.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Two American Red Cross nurses demonstrate treatment practices during the influenza pandemic of 1918.
The 1918 flu pandemic (commonly referred to as the Spanish Flu) was an influenza pandemic that spread to nearly every part of the world. It was caused by an unusually virulent and deadly influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin of the virus. Most of its victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or otherwise weakened patients. The flu pandemic has also been implicated in the sudden outbreak of encephalitis lethargica in the 1920s.
The pandemic lasted from March 1918 to June 1920,Institut Pasteur. La Grippe Espagnole de 1918 (Powerpoint presentation in French). spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. It is estimated that anywhere from 50 to 100 million people were killed worldwide which is from three to seven times the casualties of the First World War (15 million), making it the most deadly natural disaster in human history.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jeffery K. Taubenberger and David M. Morens. 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics, January, 2006. Retrieved on May 9, 2009. Archived 2009-10-01.Tindall 2007The 1918 Influenza Pandemic. Accessed 2009-05-01. Archived 2009-05-04. An estimated 50 million people, about 3% of the world's population (approximately 1.6 billion at the time), died of the disease. An estimated 500 million, or 1/3 were infected.
Scientists have used tissue samples from frozen victims to reproduce the virus for study. Given the strain's extreme virulence there has been controversy regarding the wisdom of such research. Among the conclusions of this research is that the virus kills via a cytokine storm (overreaction of the body's immune system) which explains its unusually severe nature and the concentrated age profile of its victims. The strong immune systems of young adults ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults caused fewer deaths.
The Concern Spreading the Virus
Text on the Sign:
Spanish Influenza has endangered the prosecution of the WAR in Europe.
There are 1500 cases in the Navy Yard. 30 deaths have already resulted.
SPITTING SPREADS SPANISH INFLUENZA. Don't Spit.
Note the sign's emphasis on the epidemic's damage to the war effort.
Image: Influenza Precaution Sign. Photo #: NH 41731-A. Naval Historical Center Website.
More Books on the 1918 Flu on Amazon
A Cruel Wind: Pandemic Flu in America 1918-1920
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/05/2009) 
Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 & the Search for the Virus That Caused It
Amazon Price: $26.95 (as of 12/05/2009)
The 1918 Flu Pandemic
Amazon Price: $15.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
The Devil's Flu: The World's Deadliest Influenza Epidemic and the Scientific Hunt for the Virus That Caused It
Amazon Price: $16.24 (as of 12/05/2009)
Living with Enza: The Forgotten Story of Britain and the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918
Amazon Price: $48.00 (as of 12/05/2009)
The Prevention and Treatment of Influenza
To prevent the spread of influenza at the time, the public was advised to cover each cough and sneeze with handkerchief. Avoid crowds. If possible, walk to work.
In addition they were admonished to not spit on floor or sidewalk or use common drinking cups and common towels. Avoid excessive fatigue. If taken ill, go to bed and send for a doctor.
Image Source: INFLUENZA Poster. Treasury Department. United States Public Health Service. Washington, D. C. 1918. Printed Ephemera Home. Library of Congress. Public Domain.
Articles on the Pandemic Influenza
- PLoS Biology: Pandemic Influenza: The Inside Story
- An article on the Pandemic Influenza, including the 1918 Influenza from PLoS Biology.
- 1918 Influenza Pandemic | CDC EID
- The "Spanish" influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, which caused nearly 50 million deaths worldwide, remains an ominous warning to public health. Many questions about its origins, its unusual epidemiologic features, and the basis of its pathogenicity remain unanswered. The public health implications of the pandemic therefore remain in doubt even as we now grapple with the feared emergence of a pandemic caused by H5N1 or other virus.
- 1918 Influenza Pandemic | CDC EID
- The "Spanish" influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, which caused %u224850 million deaths worldwide, remains an ominous warning to public health. Many questions about its origins, its unusual epidemiologic features, and the basis of its pathogenicity remain unanswered. The public health implications of the pandemic therefore remain in doubt even as we now grapple with the feared emergence of a pandemic caused by H5N1 or other virus. However, new information about the 1918 virus is emerging, for example, sequencing of the entire genome from archival autopsy tissues.
- 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics
- PDF File 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics by Jeffery K. Taubenberger and David M. Morens in Emerging Infectious Diseases January 2006 pp. 15 - 22.
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918
1918 Flu on Nova's Science Now
- 1918 Flu at Boston.com
- A virus that killed up to 50 million people is brought back to life to decipher its deadliness. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA scienceNOW is provided by Pfizer, the National Science Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers.
- NOVA | scienceNOW | 1918 Flu | PBS
- Watch a streaming video clip of the NOVA scienceNOW segment on the 1918 flu, take an interactive poll on whether reviving the virus for research purposes was justified, ask microbiologist Terrence Tumpey your questions about its recreation, and more.
- NOVA | scienceNOW | 1918 Flu | PBS
- Video of the 1918 Flu
American Experience - Influenza 1918 in the Amazon Spotlight
American Experience - Influenza 1918
Amazon Price: $22.49 (as of 12/05/2009)
A special from the American Experience, the Influenza 1918 film was originally broadcast on PBS in 1998.
The flu epidemic would kill more than 675,000 people in the United States before disappearing as mysteriously as it began.
The Spread of the Flu Pandemic in the United States
In this Map of the 1918 Flu Pandemic you can see how the influenza spread across the United States within less than a month.
Image: Map of the 1918 Flu in the United States. Office of the Public Health Service Historian.
The Great Pandemic of 1918
- The Great Pandemic : : The United States in 1918-1919 : .
- The Influenza Pandemic occurred in three waves in the United States throughout 1918 and 1919. Learn more about the pandemic, along with the Nation's health and the medical care system and how they were affected.
- The Great Pandemic : : The Pandemic
- Throughout history, influenza viruses have mutated and caused pandemics or global epidemics. In 1890, an especially virulent influenza pandemic struck, killing many Americans. Those who survived that pandemic and lived to experience the 1918 pandemic tended to be less susceptible to the disease.
- The Great Pandemic : : Influenza Strikes
- Throughout history, influenza viruses have mutated and caused pandemics or global epidemics. In 1890, an especially virulent influenza pandemic struck, killing many Americans. Those who survived that pandemic and lived to experience the 1918 pandemic tended to be less susceptible to the disease.
- The Great Pandemic : : Voices of the Pandemic
- "On March 30, 1918, the occurrence of eighteen cases of influenza of severe type, from which three deaths resulted was reported at Haskell, Kansas." Public
- The Great Pandemic : : Fighting Influenza
- During the mid to late nineteenth-century, physicians and scientists had begun to understand that diseases are caused by microorganisms. This was a radical departure from traditional medical theories which had held that diseases were caused by miasmas or an imbalance in the body's humors.
- The Great Pandemic : : The Legacy of the Pandemic
- No one knows exactly how many people died during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. During the 1920s, researchers estimated that 21.5 million people died as a result of the 1918-1919 pandemic. More recent estimates have estimated global mortality from the 1918-1919 pandemic at anywhere between 30 and 50 million. An estimated 675,000 Americans were among the dead.
The Great Influenza in the Amazon Spotlight
The Great Influenza: The story of the deadliest pandemic in history
Amazon Price: $11.56 (as of 12/05/2009)
Author John Barry takes a look at the deadliest pandemic in history in the Great Influenza.
Barry points out that at the time politicians and military commanders were focused on the first World War, so ignored warnings from scientists, ultimately contributing to conditions that allowed the virus to spread and to kill.
Interview with the Author of The Great Influenza
The Disease
Many people died within the first few days after coming down with the infection; others died of later of complications. Almost half of those who died from the 1918 influenza were young, healthy adults.
Image: Public Library of Science Journal. Spanish Flu Hospital. Emergency military hospital during influenza epidemic. 1918 - 1919. Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license. Wikimedia. National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C., United States.
The Influenza Epidemic of 1918
- The Influenza Epidemic of 1918
- Online exhibit on the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 from National Archives and Records.
- The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 : Documents and Photographs
- Documents and Photographs from the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 an online exhibit from the National Archives and Records.
The Deaths from the 1918 Flu
This graph of the Mortality Rates from the 1918 Flu - United States and Europe looks at the number of people and the months that people were dying in four different cities: New York, London, Paris and Berlin from June of 1918 to March of 1919.
Image: Influenza Pandemic: Mortality in America and Europe During 1918 and 1919. National Museum of Health and Medicine
America's Forgotten Pandemic in the Amazon Spotlight
America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918
Amazon Price: $72.00 (as of 12/05/2009)
Author Alfred W. Crosby recounts the course of the influenza pandemic during the panic-stricken months of 1918 and 1919
He looks at the impact of the pandemic on American society, and explores why this major event may have been forgotten.
Crosby also discusses the recent outbreaks of diseases, including the Asian flu and the SARS epidemic, America's Forgotten Pandemic remains both prescient and relevant.
The Health Care Professionals
Nurse wearing a mask as protection against influenza. September 13, 1918.
In October of 1918, Congress approved a $1 million budget for the U. S. Public Health Service to recruit 1000 medical doctors and over 700 registered nurses. Nurses were scarce, as their proximity to and interaction with the disease increased the risk of death.
Source: Selected Records from the National Archives. The Influenza Epidemic of 1918. Record held at National Archives at College Park, MD. Record number 165-WW-269B-5.
Lesson's Learned from the 1918 Flu Pandemic
- Lessons Learned from 1918 Pandemic Influenza Outbreak
- The 1918 influenza pandemic, also known as the "Spanish Flu" was a highly contagious and deadly disease. The virus was H1N1, and caused an estimated 40 million deaths worldwide in less than one year. From 1918-1920, it killed somewhere between 50 million and 100 million people across the globe; no other event in the past 100 years has had such a negative impact worldwide.
- Lessons Learned: the 1918 Flu Epidemic
- An interview with Richard Hatchett, MD, Lead author of NIH influenza study for Listen to Sound Medicine.
- Flu Lessons From 1918 - Well Blog - NYTimes.com
- New York Times writer Gina Kolata talks about lessons learned from the 1918 flu pandemic.
- Historic Spanish flu outbreak in Birmingham provided lessons for pandemic planning | Birmingham News Living - al.com - al.com
- Public health officials took a hard look at the 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic for lessons learned when they began planning a few years ago for future pandemics.
- Lessons learned from 1918
- The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19 sickened 20 percent to 40 percent of the world's population and killed as many as 50 million people, according to statistics from the federal government. The death toll included 675,000 Americans - at a time when the U.S. population was about 105 million.
- Lessons learned from the influenza pandemic of 1918 | BU Today
- As the threat of an influenza pandemic - real or perceived - begins coursing through the public's consciousness, Peter Palese hopes to set a few things straight.
- 1918 Flu Epidemic Teaching Valuable Lessons - washingtonpost.com
- New analysis of how American cities responded to the killer Spanish flu of 1918 suggests that closing schools, banning large gatherings, staggering work hours and quarantining households of the ill may have saved tens of thousands of lives.
- The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
- The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history.
Memories of the 1918 Flu Pandemic on YouTube
The Survivors
It has been over 90 years since the 1918 Pandemic took the lives of over 50 million people worldwide. There were still many others who survived the flu, but many children who were left orphaned, or lost many family members because of the Spanish Flu.Many of the survivors of the pandemic are now in their 90's or 100's. Fortunately many of their memories have been captured on paper or in film. Some of them are include in the links below.
What is interesting about the survivors of the 1918 flu, they may have the cells which hold the key to helping scientists figure out how to build immunity to the H1N1 flu.
Image: A child with influenza, her mother, and a visiting nurse from a local Child Welfare Association. History of Medicine (NLM)
The Stories from Survivors
- CDC PanFlu Storybook Online
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Pandemic Flu Storybook provides readers with an intimate look at the impact pandemic flu events have had on both survivors and the families and friends of non-survivors.
The stories within the pages of this book are not folklore, but personal recollections from the 1918 and 1957 events. This collection of stories was first released online in 2008 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 1918 flu pandemic. - Woman recalls 1918 flu Video on CNN.com
- A 100-year-old woman in Littleton, Colorado, remembers the Spanish Flu, which claimed her parents and sister.
- 1918 flu survivors share memories as research continues - CNN.com
- Roy Braswell was 9 years old when the flu pandemic of 1918 hit.
- Survivors remember 1918 flu - Infectious diseases- msnbc.com
- The last survivors of the 1918 flu pandemic share stories that offer a glimpse at the forgotten history of one of the world's worst plagues, when the virus killed at least 50 million people and perhaps as many as 100 million.
- Survivors remember 1918 flu - News Wires - CNBC.com
- The last survivors of the 1918 flu pandemic share stories that offer a glimpse at the forgotten history of one of the world's worst plagues, when the virus killed at least 50 million people and perhaps as many as 100 million.
- Antibodies To 1918 Flu Found In Elderly Survivors : NPR
- In the journal Nature, scientists report the antibodies were found in 32 people who were alive in 1918 and were able to protect mice infected with a variant of the 1918 virus. The discovery is helping scientists understand what it might take to battle a modern flu pandemic.
- Resurrecting the 1918 Flu Pandemic
- Back in 2005 some researchers journeyed to the Alaskan permafrost to dig up some bodies of victims of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50-100 million people worldwide as World War 1 came to a close. They were able to recover the virus from these bodies because they have been frozen since burial.
Teaching Students about the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
The 1918 Spanish Influenza is a good topic to have children and teens study for the science, the history and the medicine.Students may be interested in knowing that the flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40, so many school-aged children and teens might have been the ones to survive the flu when their parents might have been the ones to have died.
Students might also want to know that when the pandemic was at its peak, authorities closed schools and other public gathering places to limit the spread of the disease. Closing schools is an option for helping to control the H1N1 flu.
Image: The Great Pandemic: The United States in 1918-1919. Documents & Media. The Mullens children (and some neighbors) ready for school in Charleston, West Virginia. The Office of the Public Health Service Historian. Library of Congress.
Pandemic 1918 Video
Lesson Plans for Teaching About the 1918 Influenza
- The Great Flu Epidemic of 1918 (Lesson Plan) - TeacherVision.com
- Learn more about the flu epidemic that killed more Americans than all wars of the twentieth century combined.
- SECRETS OF THE DEAD . Lesson Plan . Identifying Viruses | PBS
- Students learn the story of the 1918 influenza pandemic and about the use of electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting to identify an unknown, using UPC barcodes to represent the DNA banding patterns.
- Lesson Plans - Geographic Diffusion of Disease: The Flu Pandemic of 1918-19
- This lesson will focus on the spatial diffusion of the influenza (flu) pandemic of 1918-19. Spatial diffusion is the geographic spread of ideas, innovations, or phenomena (such as disease).
- Daily Lesson Plan
- n this lesson, students engage in an inquiry into influenza A (H1N1), considering the virus and the pandemic from multiple perspectives and acting as advisers to share factual information they learn with their classmates and school communities.
- Curriculum Connection Article: Swine Flu and Health Lesson Plans
- With the swine flu on everyone's mind, students can benefit from learning about influenza, epidemics, and public health.
- Pandemics: The Swine Flu of 1918
- Students will gain an understanding of pandemics through the investigational research of the 1918 swine flu. Students will apply the information by choosing a current virus and role-playing a member of the Centers of Disease Control (CDC).
- The Washington Post: NIE Lesson Plan: Endemic, Epidemic or Pandemic?
- Many health issues provide stimulus for lessons in economics, privacy vs. public health concerns, illegal vs. legal transport of goods and medicines, laws and ethics. This guide focuses on the current news: an outbreak of mumps in the Midwest and the spread of the H5N1 strain of the influenza virus.
- As swine flu cases soar, a TV drama about 1918 Spanish flu epidemic is a vital history lesson | Mail Online
- Hospitals inundated, schools shut down, appeals for calm... not swine flu but its 1918 forebear which killed 70million worldwide, as a graphic BBC drama documentary recalls.
Purple Death : The Mysterious Flu of 1918 in the Amazon Spotlight
Purple Death : The Mysterious Flu of 1918
Amazon Price: $15.34 (as of 12/05/2009)
This medical history begins by describing how the influenza of 1918 spread across the world, infecting 2 billion people and killing 20 to 40 million at a time when people could not see a virus.
The second half of the book is devoted to the efforts of scientists, once the pandemic subsided, to determine its cause.
Ways to Teach Children about Germs
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Teaching Children About Germs
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For children germs are invisible things that cause them to get sick. Remembering to do things like washing their hands or covering a cough may not come easily. Helping children understand about germs is to find ways to help them 'see' the ge...
Books on the 1918 Flu and Epidemics for Children on Amazon
The 1918 Flu Pandemic (Graphic Library)
Amazon Price: $20.22 (as of 12/05/2009)
Winnie's War
Amazon Price: $11.55 (as of 12/05/2009)
New York Times Deadly Invaders: Virus Outbreaks Around the World, from Marburn Fever to Avian Flu
Amazon Price: $13.22 (as of 12/05/2009)
Epidemics and Plagues (Kingfisher Knowledge)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Epidemic (Dk Eyewitness Books)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Historical Resources on the 1918 Flu
- 1918 Spanish Influenza Outbreak: The Enemy Within
- In the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis, can a government protect the welfare of its citizens at home while rushing millions of troops to battlefields half a world away? In 1918 America faced just such a challenge.
- The Influenza Epidemic of 1918
- World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives. The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history.
- American Historical Association Blog: The Great Pandemic
- In light of the recent swine flu pandemic, it seems timely to look back at the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, often referred to as the Great Pandemic. The deadly virus hit the world at a vulnerable time, as World War I had just come to a close in the early fall of 1918.
More on Ways to Protect Yourself from the Flu
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Cover Your Cough to Prevent the H1N1 Flu
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Serious respiratory illnesses like the H!N1 influenza (or Swine Flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), whooping cough and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are spread by coughing or sneezing. Many people will cough or sneeze into their hand...
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How to Wash Your Hands
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Hand Washing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection. Every year more than 164 million school days are lost due to illness. In light of the recent concerns of Swine Flu, washing your hands is one of the most important...
The Latest News about the 1918 Flu Pandemic
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byThe Hope About H1N1 - We are Better Prepared
The hope with the current H1N1 flu outbreak is that through massive public education about the need to wash hands and cover coughs, staying away from people who are sick, staying home if sick and staying informed about the latest information this bout of influenza will be better dealt with than the 1918 pandemic.
Gregory Hartl, spokesman for the WHO (World Health Organization) had this to say at a press conference referring to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic:- I think the world is infinitely better prepared than it was 90 years ago.
Image Source: CDC
More about the H1N1 Flu
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How to Prevent Getting H1N1 Flu or Swine Flu
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On June 10, 2009 the World Health Organization finally raised the level of concern about the H1N1 Flu to a level 6. H1N1 Flu has become the first 21st century flu pandemic. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan was quoted as saying "With today's ann...
Blog Posts about the 1918 Flu Pandemic
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Blog Posts about the Spanish Flu
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