The world is fighting the coronavirus today. Even a large country like India is staggering. But this is not the first time. About 104 years ago, the Spanish flu pandemic killed so many people in the world that to date they have not been counted correctly.
At that time the world population was around 180 crores. Within two years, some 600 million of these people were hit by the virus. That is, every third person in the world was sick with Spanish flu. According to different estimates, between 1.74 crore and 5 crore people lost their lives. Compare this to the population of the world today, this is equivalent to the death of about 200 million people.
In India, Spanish flu was known as Bombay Flu or Bombay Fever. Between 1 crore and 2 crores, people were killed. This was the highest number of deaths from Spanish flu in any one country.
The deadly second wave, 80% infection and death in three months
While the Spanish flu outbreak lasted for about two years, the last three months of 1918 were the most deadly. It is believed that the mutations in the flu virus were caused by the movement of soldiers during the First World War. 80% of Spanish flu cases and lives were lost during these three months.
104 years ago spread from Spanish flu ie H1N1 influenza virus
No investigation, such as RT-PCR or rapid antigen test, was then available to confirm the epidemic.
Neither was there any anti-viral drug like Remdesivir?
There were also no mechanical ventilators for critical care.
There was also no antibiotic medicine to treat secondary bacterial infections after viral infections. The first antibiotic penicillin was discovered 10 years later.
There was also no vaccine to survive the Spanish flu. Researchers Thomas Francis and Zonal Salk of the University of Michigan, USA, created the first vaccine for the flu in 1940 with the help of the military.
Then the doctors did not even know that the disease is spread by the virus and not by bacteria. Wilson Smith, Christopher Entreuse, and Patrick Laidlaw isolated the influenza virus for the first time in 1933.
Non-antivirals and antibiotics were then treated with aspirin, quinine, ammonia, turpentine, saline water, balm, etc.
The world was engulfed in the war, only news came from Spain, so Spanish flu was named
The biggest epidemic of the 20th century may have been the Spanish flu, but it did not start in Spain.
Then the whole of Europe was entangled in the First World War. Spain was the only major European country that was neutral during this period.
In both the warring camps, Allied and Central Power countries, news of the flu was censored so that the soldiers could keep their spirits up.
At the same time, the Spanish media was independent. In May 1918, the news of the epidemic made headlines in Madrid.
Due to the news being published in the Spanish newspapers in the countries undergoing blackout, the epidemic was being detected, hence it came to be known as Spanish flu. Thither The people of Spain believed that the virus spread from France, so they called it the French flu.
Don't know where it started, the first case was found in America
Where did the Spanish flu start? Till now no strong answer has been received. According to different claims, apart from France, China, and Britain, America has also considered its birthplace. Yes, the historical fact that the first case of Spanish flu was found in the military cantonment of Fort Riley, Kansas Province, USA, on March 04, 1918.
1. The Liberty Loan Parade took place in Philadelphia amid the Spanish flu. The parade spread such flu outbreaks throughout the city that it became difficult to manage. Philadelphia Public Health Director Bilmer Cruson assured people that soldiers have the common seasonal flu and that it will be controlled before it reaches the general public. On September 28, 1918, a 2-mile-long parade of patriotic frat soldiers, boy scouts, bands, and local artists came out. The entire path was filled with people watching.
72 hours after this parade, all 31 hospitals in Philadelphia were filled with patients and within a week 26,00 people died. Jard Denner, who wrote the book Global Flu and You: A History of Influenza, said the Philadelphia Lone Parade poured petrol into the fire.
2. Public Health Services did a tremendous job in the American city of St. Louis. Even before a case was received, the health commissioner of the city, Dr. Max Starkloff, alerted the local doctors. He also wrote articles in the St. Louis Post Dispatch explaining the importance of crowd avoidance.
As the Spanish flu spread in an army barrack close to St. Louis, Dr. Starkloff closed schools, theaters, theaters, pool halls without losing time. Restrictions on the gathering of people. The traders put a lot of pressure on them but they did not agree. When the infection started spreading, the volunteers started treating people at home. After all, the curve of how to grow became flat.
There were no masks like the N95 of today in 1918. Surgical masks were then made from gauze and people were using them to ward off the Spanish flu. But many experiments were also being done to avoid the disease.
Argument against masks
The mask spreads fear and the administration wants to silence the people.
Businessmen felt that people wearing masks do not make purchases when they go out.
Mask violates civil rights.
Masks falsely assure people to be safe, as it is not a guarantee of survival from the disease.
Spanish flu in India: 15% fewer deaths in cities with Indian officers
Spanish flu in India reached Mumbai with Indian troops stationed in the British Army. Then it was May of 1918. The flu was spreading, but British officials were silent. Gradually, news began to appear in Indian newspapers that 150-200 dead bodies were arriving daily in the cremation ground of the cities. Within two years, one to two crore Indians had lost their lives. It was 6% of the entire population.
Like the current Corona, the first wave of Spanish flu was weak, but the second wave in September 1918 passed from North India to Sri Lanka. Data from 1200 cities and towns show that in cities or towns where Indian District Officers were stationed, the death rate was 15% lower than that of British District Officers.
How did the Spanish flu end?
Experts say the Spanish flu never ended. The Spanish flu's H1N1 strain, along with bird flu or swine flu, continues to create new strains of the epidemic after every third person in the world becomes ill. This happened in 1957, 1968, and 2009.
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