Mar 30, 2020 23:00:00

10 misconceptions about the worst epidemic in human history, the 1918 flu

The epidemic of

1918 influenza, which spread in 1918 and infected one-quarter of the world's population at that time, also known as the Spanish flu, is said to have killed 20 to 40 million people. However, there are many misunderstandings about this infectious disease, and '10 Misunderstandings' to learn from the 1918 influenza, which is said to be one of the worst infectious diseases in human history, has been published in academic media The Conversation .

10 misconceptions about the 1918 flu, the 'greatest pandemic in history'
https://theconversation.com/10-misconceptions-about-the-1918-flu-the-greatest-pandemic-in-history-133994

Misconception 1: Spanish cold occurred in Spain

In 1918, influenza was first reported by European soldiers during World War I, but the warring nations hid information because their enemies were not aware of their weaknesses. The disease spread across the continent and was first reported and named after landing in the neutral nation of Spain. In fact, the origins of the 1918 influenza are controversial even in modern times, and it is thought that Kansas in East Asia and the United States as well as Europe is possible.

Against this background, many experts do not call pathogens to link place names to viruses.

Misunderstanding 2: 'Super virus' caused pandemic
In 1918, the flu spread rapidly, killing 25 million people in the first six months.

On the other hand, recent studies have shown that the 1918 influenza virus was more lethal than the influenza virus that spread in other years, but was not fundamentally different. Increased mortality was attributed to poor environmental conditions in the battlefield, congestion in cities, malnutrition and poor hygiene associated with the war, and bacterial lung pneumonia weakened by influenza was a common cause of death. Is considered to occupy.

Misconception 3: The first epidemic was the most deadly
The 1918 influenza caused the first wave around 1918, the second wave around autumn 1918, and the third wave from spring to autumn 1919, but the fatality rate of the first wave was relatively low. The second wave, which was slowed from October to December 1918, had the highest mortality rate, and the third wave had a higher mortality rate than the first wave but lower than the second wave.

At the time of the second wave, mildly ill patients stayed at home, but severely ill patients were often collected in crowded hospital and military locations. Researchers believe this has spread the virus in a lethal fashion.

Misconception 4: The virus killed most of the infected

The flu in 1918 affected many people, but it wasn't such a disease that almost all people who died were killed. On the other hand, native Americans were

particularly affected, as mortality rates differed depending on the group to which the infected individuals belonged. This is thought to be due to having never been exposed to influenza strains in the past. Some say that the Native American community itself that had existed before has disappeared.

Misconception 5: Treatment at the time had little effect on the disease
In 1918, there was no specific antiviral therapy, and, as in modern times, medicine was aimed at 'supporting' the patient, not 'treating' the disease.

Some researchers have hypothesized that aspirin poisoning affected mortality and severity among the 1918 influenza deaths. Medical authorities at the time recommended 30 g of aspirin daily for influenza. In modern times, a safe dosage is set at 'up to 4 g per day', and it seems that a large amount of aspirin administration may have caused death.

However, even in areas where aspirin was not administered, mortality rates may be high, and the debate remains conclusive.

Misunderstanding # 6: The news was immediately reported in a big way
At the time of the flu outbreak in 1918, authorities around the world tended to downplay pandemics to prevent soldiers from losing morale and panic across the country. For this reason, at first, there was not much coverage due to the neglect of the authorities.

However, at the height of the pandemic, authorities also took action, quarantine was carried out in many cities, and sometimes police and firefighters were restricted in their actions.

Misconception 7: Pandemic has changed the outcome of World War I

It is not believed that the pandemic epidemic had influenced the outcome of the war, as the pandemic affected both the Allies and the Central Allies equally. However, the battlefield environment has certainly created an ideal place to make the virus more virulent.

Misconception 8: Pandemic has converged due to widespread vaccination
The 1918 influenza vaccination was not performed in 1918, so the convergence of the pandemic was not due to vaccination.

It has been shown that soldiers who have been in the army for years have had

lower mortality rates than recruits , and it is possible that previous exposure to influenza strains has protected their bodies.

In addition, the rapidly evolving virus may have turned into a less lethal strain. High mortality kills the host rapidly and makes it less easily transmitted. According to the natural selection model, it is quite possible that the virus reduced lethality.

Misconception 9: Virus genes have never been sequenced
In 2005, researchers sequenced the 1918 influenza. The samples collected in this study were recovered from dead buried in permafrost in Alaska.

After that, in 1918, when the influenza virus gene was artificially synthesized by reverse genetics and used to infect monkeys, it was found to show symptoms observed during a pandemic. Monkeys died from a cytokine storm with an over-reactive immune system, and it was thought that the cytokine storm increased the mortality rate of young adults in 1918.

Myth 10: Today's world is as vulnerable as 1918

Severe outbreaks of infectious diseases tend to occur every few decades, but modern scientists understand more about isolating and dealing with dying patients than they did in 1918. You. Also, antibiotics to fight secondary bacterial infections did not exist at the time, but can now be prescribed by a doctor. The importance of social distance and hand washing is widely known and can be expected for the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs. As civilization develops, viruses still threaten human life suddenly, but humanity should be able to learn lessons from the past.