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Coronavirus Is Very Different From the Spanish Flu of 1918. Here’s How.


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The fear is similar, but the medical reality is not.

 

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Seattle policemen wearing protective gauze face masks during the influenza pandemic. 1918.Credit...Time Life Pictures/National Archives, via The LIFE Picture Collection, via Getty Images

 

It was a disease so awful that it terrified people for generations.

 

The 1918 flu pandemic, thought to be the deadliest in human history, killed at least 50 million people worldwide (the equivalent of 200 million today), with half a million of those in the United States. It spread to every part of the world, affecting populations in Japan, Argentina, Germany and dozens of other countries.

 

Maybe most alarmingly, a majority of those killed by the disease were in the prime of life — often in their 20s, 30s and 40s — rather than older people weakened by other medical conditions.

 

As the coronavirus spreads around the world and public anxieties spike, comparisons between today’s situation and the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 are proliferating in journalistic outlets and on social media.

 

While the fearful atmosphere — surgical masks, stockpiling of food and avoidance of public gatherings — and potential economic ramifications are like those of 1918, the medical reality is quite different.

 

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Nurses and others in Chippendale, New South Wales, Australia. 1919.Credit...ART Collection/Alamy

 

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Japanese schoolgirls. Feb. 17, 1920.Credit...Bettmann/Getty Images

 

“Nurses often walked into scenes resembling those of the plague years of the fourteenth century,” wrote the historian Alfred W. Crosby in “America’s Forgotten Pandemic.” “One nurse found a husband dead in the same room where his wife lay with newly born twins. It had been twenty-four hours since the death and the births, and the wife had had no food but an apple which happened to lie within reach.”

 

In 1918, the world was a very different place, even without the disruptive influence of World War I. Doctors knew viruses existed but had never seen one — there were no electron microscopes, and the genetic material of viruses had not yet been discovered. Today, however, researchers not only know how to isolate a virus but can find its genetic sequence, test antiviral drugs and develop a vaccine.

 

In 1918, it was impossible to test people with mild symptoms so they could self-quarantine. And it was nearly impossible to do contact tracing because the flu seemed to infect — and panic — entire cities and communities all at once. Moreover, there was little protective equipment for health care workers, and the supportive care with respirators that can be provided to people very ill with coronavirus did not exist.

 

With a case fatality rate of at least 2.5 percent, the 1918 flu was far more deadly than ordinary flu, and it was so infectious that it spread widely, which meant the number of deaths soared.

 

Researchers believe the 1918 flu spared older people because they had some immunity to it. They theorize that decades earlier there had been a version of that virus, one that was not as lethal and spread like an ordinary flu. The older people living in 1918 would have been exposed to that less lethal flu and developed antibodies. As for children, most viral illnesses — measles, chickenpox — are more deadly in young adults, which may explain why the youngest were spared in the 1918 epidemic.

 

Regardless of the reason, it was a disaster for life expectancy, which plummeted. In 1917, life expectancy in the United States was 51 years. It was the same in 1919. But in 1918, it was just 39 years.

 

The new coronavirus tends to kill older people and those with underlying medical conditions, and it does not seem to kill children. All of which means it will have far less effect, if any, on life expectancy.

 

As for the coronavirus case fatality rate, it is not yet known, but the latest data from South Korea, with 7,478 confirmed infections, show a rate significantly higher than the seasonal flu. After testing 100,000 people for the virus, the country appears to have a case fatality rate of .65 percent. (Though the data is evolving as researchers in other countries track cases.)

 

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An image of a Red Cross nurse published in Illustrated Current News. 1918.Credit...National Library of Medicine

 

What the current situation does have in common with 1918, though, is the tenor of public concern.

 

Among the first places the 1918 flu arrived in the United States was Fort Devens, near Boston. So many young soldiers were sick, and so many were dying, that the Surgeon General sent four of the nation’s leading doctors to investigate.

 

One of them, Dr. William Vaughan, later recalled: “Hundreds of stalwart young men in the uniform of their country, coming into the wards of the hospital in groups of ten or more. They are placed on the cots until every bed is full, yet others crowd in. Their faces soon wear a bluish cast; a distressing cough brings up the blood stained sputum. In the morning the dead bodies are stacked about the morgue like cord wood.”

 

Accounts like these scared Americans deeply.

 

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A flier published by the Chicago Department of Health.Credit...National Library of Medicine

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An article from The New York Times. Oct. 5, 1918.Credit...The New York Times

 

On Oct. 3, 1918, Philadelphia closed all schools, churches, theaters, pool halls and other gathering places. Undertakers were overwhelmed — some funeral homes increased their prices sixfold and some even made the bereaved bury their own dead.

 

In Tucson, Ariz., the board of health forbade people to venture out in public without a mask. In Albuquerque, where schools and theaters were closed, a local newspaper wrote, “the ghost of fear walked everywhere.”

 

Similar actions are being taken today. Seattle has closed some public schools. The South by Southwest festival in Austin, Tex., has been canceled. Apple asked employees to work from home. More than 2,700 people are under some sort of quarantine in New York City. And some Costco stores are having trouble keeping bottled water in stock.

 

But so far this year, the annual epidemic of seasonal flu in the United States is proving much more devastating than the coronavirus.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there have been at least 34 million infected with flu this season, 350,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths. So far, coronavirus has killed 27 people in the United States.

 

For the economy, the effects of the 1918 flu, despite factory closings and social disruptions, were hard to disentangle from the profound ones of World War I. The world was not as interconnected as it is today, and by the summer of 1919, the pandemic had ended.

 

Coronavirus is already having significant impacts on the stock market and other aspects of the economy, but the long-term consequences remain to be seen.

 

Correction: March 10, 2020

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the case fatality rate of the coronavirus. The case fatality rate for those infected with the coronavirus is significantly higher than that of the season flu; it is not comparable with it. The earlier version also misstated the given name of one of the doctors who visited Fort Devens. He is Victor Vaughan, not William Vaughan.

 

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one Main thing common... both/all deadly virus spread frm animals to human,, by eating animals/meat... 

another common.. most of them come from china

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3 minutes ago, truemate said:

one Main thing common... both/all deadly virus spread frm animals to human,, by eating animals/meat... 

another common.. most of them come from china

Viruses can come from anywhere in the world, Animal viruses typically do not jump to humans; it's just not as common, but does occur. Also, most those animals are not indigenous to China. Meaning it came from other places. Also, Bats are known carrier of Viruses among them are Coronaviruses. Bat don't care about international borders or even care where they poop.  

 

Science education by a certified teacher is a good thing, Fox news education not so much.

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Israeli_Eagle
39 minutes ago, truemate said:

one Main thing common... both/all deadly virus spread frm animals to human,, by eating animals/meat... 

another common.. most of them come from china

 

And actually vegans have a weaker defend system of the body, because huge lack of vitamin D. :coolwink:

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1 minute ago, Israeli_Eagle said:

 

And actually vegans have a weaker defend system of the body, because huge lack of vitamin D. :coolwink:

wrong.... seen tons of ppl who lacks vitamin D.. even C and they are carnivorous habit humans ;)

 

 The Sun Is Your Best Source of Vitamin D..

capsules or meat or even vegg cant compare with Vit D source frm Sun.....

now some fools take nude sunbath by sleeping on beach... no benefit for them..

sun bath should be taken 10 mins front.. stomach chest side and 10 min back side.

in short 15mins is enough and that to when sun is rising....like suppose sun rise at 7am.. than frm 7am to 7:30am is the only time to take sunbath..to get its full benefit.. after that avoid direct contact with sunlight.

those ppl do this they will never face any flu in their whole life...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, truemate said:

wrong.... seen tons of ppl who lacks vitamin D.. even C and they are carnivorous habit humans ;)

 

 The Sun Is Your Best Source of Vitamin D..

capsules or meat or even vegg cant compare with Vit D source frm Sun.....

now some fools take nude sunbath by sleeping on beach... no benefit for them..

sun bath should be taken 10 mins front.. stomach chest side and 10 min back side.

in short 15mins is enough and that to when sun is rising....like suppose sun rise at 7am.. than frm 7am to 7:30am is the only time to take sunbath..to get its full benefit.. after that avoid direct contact with sunlight.

those ppl do this they will never face any flu in their whole life..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very true... But in Israeli_Eagle's defense I think he meant Vegans/vegetarians may not be getting a full set of proteins and other nutrients only animals can provide thus making your immunity weaker.

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plz stop eating any animals/reptiles like bat,snakes,rats,dogs,bats worms etc

i seen vids where a Chinese guy eating small rat babies alive..by dropping them in wine and directly in his sh*t mouth hole...

and another guy cut head of a snake and drinking his blood..... bloody hell wat can except than...virus.. this time corona....nxt time something new deadly virus

 

 

SAFh2LD.png

 

 

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10 minutes ago, truemate said:

SAFh2LD.png

I am not disputing that, what i am saying is viruses are everywhere. sometimes place of outbreak origin is the not same as Source of origin. 

 

PS: A large majority of Chinese people do not eat that shit. I have seen people eat Tide PODS does not mean everyone else in their country does it.

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Israeli_Eagle
12 minutes ago, truemate said:

wrong.... seen tons of ppl who lacks vitamin D.. even C and they are carnivorous habit humans ;)

 

 The Sun Is Your Best Source of Vitamin D..

capsules or meat or even vegg cant compare with Vit D source frm Sun.....

now some fools take nude sunbath by sleeping on beach... no benefit for them..

sun bath should be taken 10 mins front.. stomach chest side and 10 min back side.

in short 15mins is enough and that to when sun is rising....like suppose sun rise at 7am.. than frm 7am to 7:30am is the only time to take sunbath..to get its full benefit.. after that avoid direct contact with sunlight.

those ppl do this they will never face any flu in their whole life...

 

Actually UV can do that, that is true. Enjoy it! :whistle:

And normal humans with normal food have also always enough vitamin C, no problem at all.

 

But the news there... Oh my.....

 

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14 minutes ago, ghost said:

I am not disputing that, what i am saying is viruses are everywhere. sometimes place of outbreak origin is the not same as Source of origin.

all source of origin is frm there only.... if not why they not allowing Dr frm other country to visit there... they even killed one of their main dr who spread the news abt his country is facing this deadly virus... and those 2 reporters also disappeared who shared vids/pics abt the corona effect in china on social media (sure they too killed) nearly lakh of dead human bodies they burnt in china...wuhan.. satellite pic caught them...

know the history of wuhan ?? frm where this virus spread? just google and see what market is it famous for....markets of selling all types of animals,reptiles meat... beyond our imagination

 

human should not cross a line regarding wat to eat and wat not.. if they cross that limit.. than nature there to screw us badly....

prob is because of some ppl weird eating behavior..whole world gets in trouble always

 

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Israeli_Eagle
2 minutes ago, truemate said:

all source of origin is frm there only.... if not why they not allowing Dr frm other country to visit there... they even killed one of their main dr who spread the news abt his country is facing this deadly virus... and those 2 reporters also disappeared who shared vids/pics abt the corona effect in china on social media (sure they too killed) nearly lakh of dead human bodies they burnt in china...wuhan.. satellite pic caught them

know the history of wuhan ??? just google and see what market is it famous for....markets of selling all types of animals,reptiles meat... beyond our imagination

 

Maybe you not like it, but fact is that half of the humans at planet Earth are from China!! :whistle:

And actually the true source is still unknown.

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6 minutes ago, Israeli_Eagle said:

 

Maybe you not like it, but fact is that half of the humans at planet Earth are from China!! :whistle:

And actually the true source is still unknown.

 

yea huge population. but why should i dont like it ???? i am not saying to nuke them lol

just saying they should ctrl their habit of eating weird stuffs .... 

Who knows nxt time they will eat our IsraeliEagle in name of new zohan chom chom noodles :lol:

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15 minutes ago, truemate said:

all source of origin is frm there only.... if not why they not allowing Dr frm other country to visit there... they even killed one of their main dr who spread the news abt his country is facing this deadly virus... and those 2 reporters also disappeared who shared vids/pics abt the corona effect in china on social media (sure they too killed) nearly lakh of dead human bodies they burnt in china...wuhan.. satellite pic caught them

know the history of wuhan ??? just google and see what market is it famous for....markets of selling all types of animals,reptiles meat... beyond our imagination

 

 

your information is a bit delayed, they do allow medical experts to visit. As i explained Animal source may not be the same as animal infected that transmitted to humans. as an example of what i meant: A bat from country A infects food of animal from country B and gets transported to Country C. Yes, Country C spread out to other countries but The real source is Bat from Country A.

 

This is why Scientist from all over the world go into cave to find new infections, because of fears about pandemics.

 

PS: A large majority of Chinese people do not eat that shit. I have seen people eat Tide PODS does not mean everyone else in their country does it.

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Small Exerpt from Wikipedia regarding China's involvement 

Quote

Hypotheses about the source

Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify with certainty the pandemic's geographic origin.[2] Different hypotheses have been made about it, with the three main ones being northern China, a British army base in France, and Kansas in the United States.[20]

The major UK troop staging and hospital camp in Étaples in France has been theorized by researchers as being at the center of the Spanish flu. The research was published in 1999 by a British team, led by virologist John Oxford.[21] In late 1917, military pathologists reported the onset of a new disease with high mortality that they later recognized as the flu. The overcrowded camp and hospital was an ideal site for the spreading of a respiratory virus. The hospital treated thousands of victims of chemical attacks, and other casualties of war, and 100,000 soldiers passed through the camp every day. It also was home to a piggery, and poultry was regularly brought in for food supplies from surrounding villages. Oxford and his team postulated that a significant precursor virus, harbored in birds, mutated and then migrated to pigs kept near the front.[22][23]

There have been statements that the epidemic originated in the United States. Historian Alfred W. Crosby stated that the flu originated in Kansas,[24] and popular author John Barry described Haskell County, Kansas, as the point of origin.[15] It has also been stated that, by late 1917, there had already been a first wave of the epidemic in at least 14 US military camps.[25]

One of the few regions of the world seemingly less affected by the 1918 flu pandemic was China, where there may have been a comparatively mild flu season in 1918 (although this is disputed, see Around the globe). There were relatively few deaths from the flu in China compared to other regions of the world.[26][27] This has led to speculation that the 1918 flu pandemic originated from China.[28][27][29][30] The relatively mild flu season and lower rates of flu mortality in China in 1918 may be explained due to the fact that the Chinese population had already possessed acquired immunity to the flu virus.[31][28][27]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

 

Why do some people play fast and loose with the facts to promote a narrative.

 

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17 hours ago, ghost said:

your information is a bit delayed, they do allow medical experts to visit. As i explained Animal source may not be the same as animal infected that transmitted to humans. as an example of what i meant: A bat from country A infects food of animal from country B and gets transported to Country C. Yes, Country C spread out to other countries but The real source is Bat from Country A.

 

This is why Scientist from all over the world go into cave to find new infections, because of fears about pandemics.

 

PS: A large majority of Chinese people do not eat that shit. I have seen people eat Tide PODS does not mean everyone else in their country does it.

 

always country C only becomes source of spreading virus ????

yes country A & B dont eat Bat.. thats why they not & will be never source of spreading deadly virus !

 

they allow medical experts lol too late..when virus already spread.

C.D.C. and W.H.O. Offers to Help China Have Been Ignored for Weeks
Privately, Chinese doctors say they need outside expertise. But Beijing, without saying why, has shown no interest so far.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/health/cdc-coronavirus-china.html

 

 

Frm Wuhan this virus spread...the main weird flesh market of china.

though its been now fully closed down....as that full city is been virus infected.

 

 

btw, another person who said china prez is a clown regarding corona prevention,,, is missing from china???

missing or killed by communist mentality power hungry ppl

 

Chinese Tycoon Who Criticized Xi’s Response to Coronavirus Has Vanished
Ren Zhiqiang appears to be the latest government critic silenced by the Communist Party as it cracks down on dissent over the epidemic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/world/asia/china-ren-zhiqiang.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/chinese-executive-who-called-xi-a-clown-over-coronavirus-response-is-missing

 

Dr are been killed/missing.. reporters are missing and now this tycoon.. who ever telling/exposing the real situation abt how they failing in ctrling this virus are been killed.... WHAT CHINA hiding FRM THE WORLD ???

 

 

 

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got something....

 

The Number of Deaths in the world in the first two months of 2020

          2360 : Corona Virus
      69602 : Common cold
   140 584 : Malaria
   153,696 : Suicide
   193,479 : Road Accidents
   240,950 : HIV loss
   358,471 : Alcohol
   716,498 : Smoking
1,177,141 : Cancer

 

Do you think Corona is Dangerous? 

OR
is the purpose of the media campaign to settle the trade war between China and America 
OR
to reduce financial markets to prepare the stage of financial markets for mergers and acquisitions 
OR
to sell US Treasury bonds to cover the fiscal deficit in them
OR
Is it a Panic created by Pharma companies to sell their products like sanitizer, masks, medicine etc.

Do not Panic, Relax, Have a Basic Hygiene, Take Balanced Diet with Natural Supplements

 

 

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2 hours ago, truemate said:

 

always country C only becomes source of spreading virus ????

yes country A & B dont eat Bat.. thats why they not & will be never source of spreading deadly virus !

 

they allow medical experts lol too late..when virus already spread.

C.D.C. and W.H.O. Offers to Help China Have Been Ignored for Weeks
Privately, Chinese doctors say they need outside expertise. But Beijing, without saying why, has shown no interest so far.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/health/cdc-coronavirus-china.html

 

 

Frm Wuhan this virus spread...the main weird flesh market of china.

though its been now fully closed down....as that full city is been virus infected.

 

 

btw, another person who said china prez is a clown regarding corona prevention,,, is missing from china???

missing or killed by communist mentality power hungry ppl

 

Chinese Tycoon Who Criticized Xi’s Response to Coronavirus Has Vanished
Ren Zhiqiang appears to be the latest government critic silenced by the Communist Party as it cracks down on dissent over the epidemic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/world/asia/china-ren-zhiqiang.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/chinese-executive-who-called-xi-a-clown-over-coronavirus-response-is-missing

 

Dr are been killed/missing.. reporters are missing and now this tycoon.. who ever telling/exposing the real situation abt how they failing in ctrling this virus are been killed.... WHAT CHINA hiding FRM THE WORLD ???

 

 

 

First and foremost I was actually explaining Source of origin may not be same as source place of first infection. I then came up with one potential scenario. To sum it up for you I was explaining the difference, you on the other hand just likes to make partial truth accusations with no proof. Medical expert do not yet know or can ascertain the source animal or even the source carrier.

 

Secondly, you again blindly make accusation about Chinese people eating all that weird shit and all i am, saying is most Chinese people don't. You make it sound like only Chinese people eat this garbage. In Canada there are certain people talking about bugs as source of protein, Bear Grylls eats all kinds of weird stuff on TV shows, or many other cultures around the world. Do you like peanut butter guess whats in them, also food scientist from around the world find and use all kinds of weird ingredients.

 

 I have never once defended communism or ever will. As a matter of fact, All i am doing is explaining the difference in "source". Informing you the truth that only some Chinese people eat that shit.

 

Lets wait for actual indisputable facts, be informed and lets not stitch together loose facts to fill a Narrative.

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