Arnold published this book on the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Little did she know that we would have a similar pandemic two years later.
The pandemic occurred in three waves. The first wave was in the spring of 1918. The second wave in the fall of 1918 was the big one that made the pandemic as big as it was. A third wave came in the spring of 1919. The pandemic killed more people than World War I and it is estimated around 100 million died worldwide
Public responses matched those we hear today during the current coronavirus pandemic. An epicenter was never established but many experts suspected China. Some said it was manmade. Everyone wore masks and cities became ghost towns as businesses and public facilities closed. Divine punishment was a more common belief then than today. Much of the public blamed Germans and called it the German Plague. Today there is an attempt to blame Trump.
The flu was common throughout history but medical authorities knew this outbreak was different. It was quick and deadly. Uncharacteristically it affected the young and healthy more than anyone else. Victims would turn blue from a lack of oxygen due to lung congestion, a condition known as cyanosis. The time from onset of symptoms to death could be hours.
Medical authorities could not pinpoint the cause. They knew about bacteria and had always though that was the cause of influenza. No one knew about viruses because they are much smaller than bacteria. They were discovered in 1938 with the invention of the electron microscope.
It was the first major pandemic since the Black Death of the Middle Ages. It was the main reason the German spring offensive of 1918 failed. It was called the Spanish Flu because both sides in the war suppressed news about the pandemic among their troops to maintain morale but neutral Spain revealed its civilian outbreak to the world so it got the name Spanish Flu.
The virus was not identified until 1997 when a research team dug up 1918 corpses from the Alaska permafrost. It turned out to be H5N1, a bird flu virus which is apparently part of the H1N1 family. It was also discovered that the virus was so virulent because it triggered a massive inflammatory auto-immune response in the victims which was what killed them. This is why the young with their strong immune systems were major casualties.
At the end Arnold mentions current (2018) contingency plans to combat new pandemics. Experts estimated that a major pandemic could kill 188,000 to 337,000 in the US. With the current coronavirus deaths approaching 100,000 it looks like the lower estimate will be approached.
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I purchased this book for my in law and he loved it! It arrived in good condition.
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how the front line people did so well inspite of the hardships
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