The Spanish Flu - Response to the Influenza of 1918

At the time of the response to influenza in 1918, the influenza in 1918 was called the Spanish flu. Spain did not participate in the expansion of the war (World War I), so there was no review of the news. But Germany, the UK and the United States are reviewing their newspaper for everything that reduces morale. Thus, the epidemic may start in France or the United States, but Spain is the first country to publish an epidemic account (Barry 171 and Furman 326).

In 1918, the influenza virus spread all over the world, causing a global epidemic. This epidemic is called 1918 or the Spanish flu. This is caused by an influenza A (H1N1) virus that scientists believe are mutating from influenza virus previously infected only to birds. Its evolution and change are sufficient to infect humans and spread quickly among people. Since this type of influenza virus has never been infected, it will soon infect many people.

The report explained the successful reconstruction of the H1N1 influenza virus that caused the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 and provided new information on its specific virulence characteristics. This information is important to evaluate the effectiveness of present and future public health interventions that can be used to reappear in 1918. The knowledge of this research can also be clarified in the pathogenesis of modern human influenza virus with the possibility of pandemic. Because many experts believe that spontaneous development of another pandemic virus is highly likely, insight into the etiology will develop the necessary prophylactic and therapeutic intervention to control the pandemic virus It may help.

The 1918 influenza pandemic epidemic (January 1918 - December 1920; commonly known as the Spanish flu) is a very lethal influenza epidemic, and two epidemic diseases involving the H1N1 influenza virus It was the first one. 500 million people are infected worldwide, including distant islands of the Pacific and the Arctic Circle, killing between 500 million to 100 million people (3% to 5% of the world's population), becoming the most fatal natural disaster in the world It is. It is one. Human history infectious diseases had limited life expectancy at the beginning of the 20th century. However, in the first year of the pandemic, the average life expectancy of the US has decreased by about 12 years. Most influenza outbreaks excessively kill the young, elderly, or debilitated patients, but in contrast, the 1918 world epidemic mainly killed healthy young people.