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The Influenza Pandemic of 1918
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918, started in 1918. It's a flu like type. It infecteda fifth odf the worlds population and killed estimated 675,000 people before it ended in 1919.
The scientific name for the 1918 flu is influenza virus. Some people call it the spanish flu and the 1918 flu, Thats what i call it. The cause of this influenza flu is unusually virulent and deadly influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1.
Normal flu symptoms of fever, nausea, aches and diarrhea. Many developed severe pneumonia attack. Dark spots would appear on the cheeks and patients would turn blue, suffocating from a lack of oxygen as lungs filled with a frothy, bloody substance.
The 1918 flu stated in 1918 thats were it get it name from but ended in 1919. Now its 2009 and its back but it called the swine flu.
An estimated one third of the world’s population (or 500 million persons) were infected and had clinically apparent illnesses (1,2) during the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic. The disease was exceptionally severe. Casefatality rates were >2.5%, compared to <0.1% in other influenza pandemics (3,4). Total deaths were estimated at 50 million (5–7) and were arguably as high as 100 million (7).
Infection with influenza produces an immune response with the production of antibodies in the blood which neutralise the virus. If the person encounters the same influenza virus again while the antibodies are still present, the body is protected and the person should not develop the infection. However, these antibodies will not protect individuals against an influenza virus in which the surface proteins have undergone a significant change since the previous infection.
Those most sensitive to infection were healthy 15-34 year olds. There death rate was twenty times higher than all other ages. Death was attributed to an “over reaction of the bodies immune system.” In contrast the seasonal flu strikes the very young, the elderly and the infirm. It was documented that contacting the virus in the first wave, gives a person only limited immunity.
Amantadine is of proven effectiveness in the treatment of influenza but is not indicated in most uncomplicated cases. New types of anti-influenza drugs are currently under development. Patients should rest, keep warm and take plenty of non-alcoholic fluids plus any medication recommended by their doctor to relieve symptoms. Antibiotics are of little value except in patients in whom bacterial pneumonia occurs.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vo112no01/05-0979.htm
http;//www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2008/niaid-19.htm
http;//www.haverford.edu/biology/edwards/disease/uiral_essays/redicanvirus.htm
http://virus.stnaford.edu/uda/fluscimed.htm
http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spanish_flu_hospital.png
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/Hardin/md/cdc/8243.html
