What was the leading cause of mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic?

In October 1918, an estimated 200,000 Americans died from pneumonia and influenza. This worst month of the epidemic recorded an average of more than 6,000 influenza and pneumonia deaths each day across the United States.

Which groups of people were most likely to get the Spanish flu?

The Spanish Influenza affected particularly the 25- to 34-year-old and 15- to 24-year-old age groups.

What age group was most affected by the 1918 influenza pandemic?

Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic.

What group of people were particularly vulnerable to the flu in 1918?

The Army and Navy medical services may have tamed typhoid and typhus, but more American soldiers, sailors, and Marines would succumb to influenza and pneumonia than would die on the industrialized battlefields of the Great War.

What was unusual about the 1918 flu?

The 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic, sometimes referred to as the “Spanish flu,” killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, including an estimated 675,000 people in the United States. An unusual characteristic of this virus was the high death rate it caused among healthy adults 15 to 34 years of age.

What is the difference between the 1918 flu and COVID-19?

Victims of the 1918 influenza mostly died from secondary bacterial pneumonia, while victims of COVID-19 mostly died from an overactive immune response resulting in organ failure.

How could the Spanish flu have been prevented?

There were no nationwide prevention methods in place against the Spanish flu. Some communities did put into place prevention methods that may look familiar to us today. The measures included: Isolation, or staying away from crowds of people.

What are some symptoms of the Spanish flu?

Patients with the influenza disease of the epidemic were generally characterized by common complaints associated with the flu. They had body aches, muscle and joint pain, headache, a sore throat and a unproductive cough with occasionally harsh breathing (JAMA, 1/25/1919).

How was the Spanish flu prevented?

What animal did the Spanish flu come from?

The predominant natural reservoir of influenza viruses is thought to be wild waterfowl (Webster et al. 1992). Periodically, genetic material from avian virus strains is transferred to virus strains infectious to humans by a process called reassortment.