Pandemics of the Past

How COVID-19 compares to the Spanish Flu

Zaynab Zlitni| News Editor

As you pull your mask on before you go into the store, use a plethora of hand sanitizer after touching a door handle, or remain cooped up in your home during this pandemic, know that a century ago life was very similiar.

In 1918 and 1919, the most severe pandemic in recent history, the Spanish flu, spread worldwide, infecting 500 million people, or 1/3 of the world’s population, and killing 50 million, according to the CDC. The first recorded case of the Spanish flu occurred at a Kansas military base.

Unlike COVID-19, the mortality rate was highest in the Spanish flu for healthy adults ages of 15-34, whereas the Corona virus has been proportionally more deadly for people at risk, such as senior citizens, or people with preexisting health conditions.

A unique trait of COVID-19 is its efect on minorities. Because of several factors, minorities of diferent ethnic and racial backgrounds are sufering during the pandemic. According to the CDC, “Inequities in the social determinants of health, such as poverty and healthcare access, afecting these groups are interrelated and influence a wide range of health and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.” Similar to the 2020 pandemic, the Spanish flu had substantial efects on the black community. “When it came to getting healthcare during the 1918 influenza epidemic, America’s Black communities hobbled by poverty, Jim Crow segregation and rampant discrimination, were mostly forced to fend for themselves,” writes National Geographic writer, Rodney Brooks.

Information from the process of the Spanish flu in 1918 has helped current members of the CDC in trying to deal with COVID-19. In the midst of the spanish flu it was clear that nurses were the necessity of a pandemic. “Even though both pandemics resisted available medicine, were extremely contagious with high mortality, and could have severe consequences to their own lives, nurses responded in mass,” writes nurse Karen Robinson. The strength of nurses to rehabilitate, and take the lead in patient care proves them to be the strongpoint of healthcare during a pandemic, this was shown true in both the Spanish flu and the COVD-19 virus.

With the spread of COVID-19, there have been many debates regarding the wearing of masks and its efectiveness on the prevention of the pandemic. Even during the 1920s public ofcials urged people to stop spitting and to wear masks, using slogans like “Spitting Spreads Death” or “The man or woman or child who will not wear a mask now is a dangerous slacker”. A sign in California even threatened “Wear a mask or go to jail.” Similarly to the recent virus, there were many resistances, and disagreements with public mask ordinances during the Spanish Influenza pandemic. An “Anti-mask League” was formed during that time, and it was argued that the masks were uncomfortable, inefective, and bad for business.

The similarities and diferences between the two viruses as well as how the world overcame the pandemic in 1918 has acted as a guide for how the world can overcome the current pandemic. The Spanish flu was the worst recorded epidemic in recent history, and the number of citizens infected with COVID-19 continues to climb.

Above: Men and Women in 1918 wear their masks to reduce the spread of the flu. Niday Picture