Veterinary Public Health Journal | Issue #17
Is the record of the most mortal outbreak about to be broken? In 1918, a strain of influenza known as Spanish flu caused a global pandemic, spreading rapidly and killing indiscriminately. Young, old, sick and otherwise-healthy people all became infected, and at least 10% of patients died. Estimates vary on the exact number of deaths caused by the disease, but it is thought to have infected a third of the world’s population and killed at least 50 million people making it the deadliest pandemic in modern history. Although at the time it gained the nickname “Spanish flu,” it’s unlikely that the virus originated in Spain. THE CAUSE OF THE SPANISH FLU: The outbreak began in 1918, during the final months of World War I, and historians now believe that the conflict may have been partly responsible for spreading the virus. On the Western Front, soldiers living in cramped, dirty and damp conditions became ill. This was a direct result of weakened immune systems from malnourishment. Their illnesses, which were known as “la grippe,” were infectious, and spread among the ranks. Within around three days of becoming ill, many soldiers started to feel better, but not all were able to make it. During the summer of 1918, as troops began to return home on leave, they brought with them the undetected virus that had made them ill. The virus did spread across cities, towns and villages in the soldiers’ home countries. Many of those infected, both soldiers and civilians, did not recover rapidly. The virus was hardest on young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who had previously been healthy.
MODE OF TRANSMISSION:
Through inhalation of the respiratory droplets whish are transmitted from the infected person through the air
SYMPTOMS:
The first wave of the 1918 pandemic occurred in the spring and was generally mild. The sick, who experienced such typical flu symptoms as chills, fever and VetPubHealth Journal ISSUE 17
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fatigue, usually recovered after several days, and the number of reported deaths was low. However, a second, highly contagious wave of influenza appeared with a vengeance in the fall of that same year. Victims died within hours or days of developing symptoms, their skin turning blue and their lungs filling with fluid that caused them to suffocate.
REACTION OF THE WORLD TOWARD THE OUTBREAK:
The city closed saloons, theatres and schools, and public gatherings were banned. Hospitals in some areas were so overloaded with flu patients. Thus, schools, private homes and other buildings had to be converted into makeshift hospitals, some of which were staffed by medical students. People were advised to avoid shaking hands and to stay indoors. Libraries put a halt on lending books, and regulations were passed banning spitting the transmission of the flu by ordering businesses to open and close on staggered shifts to avoid overcrowding on the subways Treat
TREATMENTment
Unlike today, there were no effective vaccines or antiviral drugs that treat the flu, the first licensed flu vaccine appeared in America in the 1940s. The treatment was largely symptomatic, aiming to reduce fever or pain. Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid was a common remedy. For secondary pneumonia, doses of epinephrin were given. To combat the cyanosis, physicians gave oxygen by mask or some injected it subcutaneously. Salicin was used to
IVSA Standing Committe on One Health
April 2020
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