BI 387 Winter 2012 Dr. Page Shauna Farmer The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 The history and social impact of the Influenza pandemic of 1918-1920 brought awareness and valuable information about how such a disease is spread and the care needed to survive the "flu” but at the cost of over one third of the world population‚ 20-40 million deaths worldwide. The United States accounted for 675‚000 to 1 million of total deaths. This pandemic was known as the "Spanish flu" or "La Grippe"
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The Spanish Flu of 1918 was an influenza that swept the globe killing more people then World War One‚ World War Two‚ the Korean War‚ and the Vietnam War combined. The virus’s victims were between the ages of nineteen and twenty eight‚ an unusual range compared to expected ages of deaths from a normal flu. The Forsete‚ a ship that set sail from Norway’s northern coast‚ was hit with an outbreak of the Spanish Flu on September 21‚ 1918. Within the next two weeks‚ seven people died‚ and were buried in
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medical threats is AIDS. The Spanish Flu is exponential compared to AIDS casualties (Gloria). The Spanish Flu of 1918-19 affected our world like no other disease in history. It changed the ways people sought medical help‚ the ways physicians treated illness‚ the role of medical researchers and how society‚ particularly medical and political leaders respond to pandemic diseases. Influenza is a unique respiratory viral disease infecting the whole respiratory tract-namely‚ the nose‚ sinuses‚ the throat
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During the year of 1918 the movement of troops during WWI spread the Influenza disease. Influenza arrived in the United States at a perfect timing when there many new forms of transportation‚ media‚ consumption and warfare had expanded into public places where diseases could spread more easily. The new forms of transportation really impacted the U.S. and why so many people easily contracted the disease. I will analyze two letters written to friends by a doctor and nurse to show some of the conditions
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The Spanish Influenza The Spanish Influenza was a disaster in the year 1918 because many people began to get the cold or as the Spanish call it “La Grippe”. The Spanish influenza was caused by people having the H5N1 virus. The virus in the year 1918 killed about five-hundred million people and only about fifty-million were victims of the Spanish influenza. The Spanish Influenza came spreading from China and it came a huge disaster because nobody knew how it all began. The Spanish Influenza began in
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1918 Influenza Pandemic: In 1918‚ a highly contagious and deadly strain of the influenza spread. It killed more than half a million Americans. Although much work was being done to improve public health‚ there were not any tools useful in combating the influenza spread. The origin of the flu remains unknown. The virus arrived at the battlefields in France and the U.S. military camps before reaching the urban population. It is historically significant as it killed many people and it spread rapidly
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Another reason that the flu had such a severe impact on the U.S. military is because of the way that the military was structured and arranged during World War I. In her article‚ “The U.S. military and the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919”‚ Carol Byerly gives information about the organization of the military into camps. Byerly uses the example of Camp Devens in Massachusetts to show how seriously the epidemic affected military camps. According to Byerly‚ the flu spread over the course of only ten
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The Immune Killer The influenza pandemic broke out in 1918 around the end of World War 1 and spread around the world reaching islands and villages. The virus infected anyone it could and killed millions of people. People say that since the virus targeted the immune system it was harder to treat and get antibiotics to help people. This article describes how it was just not the right time for a flu breakout due to getting over war and not having the cure for it. Weird enough people with the strongest
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Introduction Influenza‚ commonly known as the "flu"‚ is an acute viral infection of the respiratory tract caused by influenza viruses. Although it is often confused with other influenza-like illnesses‚ especially the common cold‚ influenza is a more severe disease caused by a different type of virus. A virus is a cluster of genes wrapped in a protein membrane‚ which is coated with a fatty substance that contains molecules called glycoproteins. Strains of the flu are identified according to the
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Scared to Death During the latter part of the year in Massachusetts‚ 1918‚ all hell broke loose. Jane Brox‚ the author of the devastating essay “Influenza 1918‚” describes the influenza that happened in her hometown before she was born as she states “the flu cut right through‚ spreading ahead of its own rumors‚ passing on a handshake and on the wind and with the lightest kiss.” (Brox 80). The flu was airborne and unstoppable. Deadly‚ the small hospitals began to fill up with patients sickened and
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