The Spanish flu or 1918 flu pandemic – must know facts

Dr K K Aggarwal

President Confederation of Medical Associations of Asia and Oceania

426: WHICH IS THE DEADLIEST PANDEMIC

The Spanish flu or 1918 flu pandemic was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic.

427: How long it lasted

January 1918 to December 1920

428: How many people it infected

500 million people – about a quarter of the world’s population at the time.

429: How many people died

50 million (3-5% of global population)

430: what was the age group who got killed

Most influenza outbreaks disproportionately kill the very young and the very old, with a higher survival rate for those in between, but the Spanish flu pandemic resulted in a higher than expected mortality rate for young adults.[3] Scientists offer several possible explanations for the high mortality rate of the 1918 influenza pandemic.

431: did it cause cytokine storm

Yes. Also Malnourishment, overcrowded medical camps and hospitals, and poor hygiene promoted bacterial superinfection. This superinfection killed most of the victims, typically after a somewhat prolonged death bed.

432: Which virus was it

The Spanish flu was the first of two pandemics caused by the H1N1 influenza virus; the second was the swine flu in 2009.[9]

433: how many people died in India

Some 12-17 million people died in India, about 5% of the population.

434: Were pregnant women at risk

According to historian John M. Barry, the most vulnerable of all – "those most likely, of the most likely", to die – were pregnant women. He reported that in thirteen studies of hospitalized women in the pandemic, the death rate ranged from 23% to 71%. Of the pregnant women who survived childbirth, over one-quarter (26%) lost the child.[

435: Was it as winter flu

Another oddity was that the outbreak was widespread in the summer and autumn (in the Northern Hemisphere); influenza is usually worse in winter.

436: was there a deadly second wave

The second wave of the 1918 pandemic was much more deadly than the first. The first wave had resembled typical flu epidemics; those most at risk were the sick and elderly, while younger, healthier people recovered easily. By August, when the second wave began in France, Sierra Leone, and the United States, the virus had mutated to a much more deadly form. October 1918 was the month with the highest fatality rate of the whole pandemic.