...The 1918 Influenza Epidemic Have you ever wondered why it’s so important to get vaccinated for the flu and what is so dangerous about it? Well, the influenza epidemic of 1918 was fatal and disastrous because many people died and suffered through a lot of pain. People also perished because they lost many family members and/or friends. The 1918 influenza epidemic was very devastating. In the text at http://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-chicago.html# it states, “...the Windy City experienced a staggering 38,000 cases of influenza and over 13,000 cases of pneumonia.” By the middle of October, the influenza infected Chicago, Peoria, Kankakee, and Rockford (which are all cities in Illinois). By the end of October, Chicago was reporting 10,000 new cases each week. The 1918 epidemic killed more ten times more people than in World War I. Also, the...
Words: 807 - Pages: 4
...The Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919 The Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919 is said to be the Mother of all Pandemics. A Pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease. It occurs when a influenza virus emerges and spreads around the world. About one third of the whole world’s population was infected by the epidemic.“All influenza A pandemics since that time have been caused by descendants of the 1918 virus.” (1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics Vol. 12, No. 1, Jan. 2006)The cause of the influenza links to“ avian and swine influenza were unknown.” It has been one of the world’s worst sicknesses recorded by man. There were two waves of the epidemic. The first wave of the sickness started in the spring of 1918 and was mild. The people...
Words: 356 - Pages: 2
...The Spanish Flu was the most devastating pandemic our world has ever seen. Even though few medical records exist, historians believe that 20 – 100 million people were killed by this flu. Despite the number of deaths and the severity and geographic reach of this disease, it merits little attention in the history books. Today one of our greatest medical threats is AIDS. The Spanish Flu is exponential compared to AIDS casualties (Gloria). The Spanish Flu of 1918-19 affected our world like no other disease in history. It changed the ways people sought medical help, the ways physicians treated illness, the role of medical researchers and how society, particularly medical and political leaders respond to pandemic diseases. Influenza is a unique respiratory viral disease infecting the whole respiratory tract-namely, the nose, sinuses, the throat, lungs, and even the middle ear. The disease spreads from person to person by airborne droplets produced when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. Acute symptoms of influenza, including fever, headache, shivering, muscle pain, cough, and pneumonia, are the result of the virus replicating in the respiratory tract, in which infected cells die and slough off (Rosenberg). The Spanish Flu got its name from newspaper reports of that period. It was thought that the influenza infection was carried form Asia to Spain during World War I. During WWI Spain remained neutral and the government did not censor the press. Spanish papers were filled...
Words: 2452 - Pages: 10
...be easily prevented. But it has not always been this way, in fact the virus has caused many very fatal pandemics across the world. It is still a very big threat to people today, as the virus is constantly evolving, along with it’s vaccines. Just last year in North Carolina alone, it killed over 137 people from October to January. Throughout time, the influenza virus has evolved and different strains have spread across the globe. This has been the cause of some of the worst pandemics the world has seen, and has led to the development and constantly changing vaccines available today. The flu...
Words: 1399 - Pages: 6
...The first recorded instance of the symptoms of Influenza was by Herodotus almost 2400 years ago, but the understanding of the disease was not discovered until much later. They knew what the symptoms did, but they didn’t understand it like we do now that the flu was connected to animals such as birds and pigs. In 1918 J.S. Koen, a veterinarian discovered symptoms of influenza in the pigs he treated with symptoms of the Spanish Flu that was devastating the world at the time. Independent researchers of this disease McBryde and Robert Shope, were the first scientists to study and begin to understand the disease. It was first identified in 1933 through the researcher's Wilson Smith, Christopher Andrews, and Patrick Laidrow. The first vaccine for...
Words: 1367 - Pages: 6
...The Spanish Flu was the most devastating pandemic our world has ever seen. Even though few medical records exist, historians believe that 20 – 100 million people were killed by this flu. Despite the number of deaths and the severity and geographic reach of this disease, it merits little attention in the history books. Today one of our greatest medical threats is AIDS. The Spanish Flu is exponential compared to AIDS casualties (Gloria). The Spanish Flu of 1918-19 affected our world like no other disease in history. It changed the ways people sought medical help, the ways physicians treated illness, the role of medical researchers and how society, particularly medical and political leaders respond to pandemic diseases. Influenza is a unique respiratory viral disease infecting the whole respiratory tract-namely, the nose, sinuses, the throat, lungs, and even the middle ear. The disease spreads from person to person by airborne droplets produced when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. Acute symptoms of influenza, including fever, headache, shivering, muscle pain, cough, and pneumonia, are the result of the virus replicating in the respiratory tract, in which infected cells die and slough off (Rosenberg). The Spanish Flu got its name from newspaper reports of that period. It was thought that the influenza infection was carried form Asia to Spain during World War I. During WWI Spain remained neutral and the government did not censor the press. Spanish papers were filled...
Words: 293 - Pages: 2
...Influenza Introduction Did you know that Influenza can be a deadly virus? It is a commonly caught virus around the world many people are affected every year. You could even be one of them. Many people often confuse it with the common cold creating a false sense of safety. Though influenza is not always harmful, it always has a chance to kill you. In this report you will find the history, symptoms, effects, treatment, and how to prevent getting influenza. Origin & History Influenza is a virus that's spread from person to person. It originates among birds and other animals such as pigs. The influenza virus comes in several forms and changes year to year. Influenza has been around for at least 500 years. The First Major Pandemic was in 1918 Known as The...
Words: 619 - Pages: 3
...How did the Spanish flu impact the East Coast in 1918? In 1918 the Spanish flu was a deadly pandemic that struck in China. It infected an estimated 500 million people and killed 50 to 100 million of them in waves. The Spanish flu wiped out about 50 million people in World War 1. According to center of disease control, ¨Influenza (also known as the Spanish flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. It´s important to realize the symptoms of influenza, also known as the Spanish flu, came on all of a sudden to some people. The influenza was often difficult as physicians frequently confused the disease with another viral infection. In 1918 most physicians and scientists mistakenly believed that influenza was caused by a bacteria, not a virus.¨...
Words: 287 - Pages: 2
...Pandemic Influenza: Prevention and Preparedness Now that, the flu season has already started, knowing your risk factors, prevention, and preparedness is really important to review. Influenza, commonly know as “the flu”, is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by influenza A or B viruses. The illness appears most frequently from late fall to early spring and attacks the body by spreading through the respiratory tract. According to Flu.gov (2012), pandemic occurs when we have global disease outbreak and is determined by how many deaths it causes and how it spreads. Possible outbreak causes nurses and health care professional to prepare possible plan of action that balances between overreacting and just the right way to go. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to outline prevention strategies and possible outbreak control. Summary of an Article The article chosen for this assignment was published in May/June 2012, in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (Potter et.al, 2012). The authors point out that the difference in emergency preparedness amongst states can significantly delay distribution of vaccines in case of pandemic. The study “explored the effect of variations in states’ levels of preparedness by linking the SNS (Strategic National Stockpile) to calibrated delays in emergency vaccine distribution and by comparing how the delays would affect influenza infection rated within and among states” (Potter et.al, 2012). The research also shows that...
Words: 988 - Pages: 4
...Transcript of Medical Advancements during WWI Blood Transfusions "With improved weapons came great destruction and mayhem. However, in the backdrop of arenas of war, physicians and scientists learned valuable medical lessons, later applied to civilian care, from the agony of the battlefields and the horrors of war crimes." -Evelyn B. Kelly Medical Advancements During & After WWI At the beginning of WWI, doctors did not find it practical to group different blood types of donors. After hundreds of deaths due to clotting, a mandatory lab test was issued. Later on in the war when labs were not available, a few CC's of blood would be injected into the patient's arm. After a few minutes, if there was no reaction, the full blood transfusion would be carried out. For a while, only blood type O was collected into a "Rous-Turner glucose-citrate solution ... and stored in an icebox." (The Educational Broadcasting Corporation). The blood would be stored for up to 26 hours until it was considered "bad blood". Later on doctors found that even older blood did not seem to influence the results in patients. The first citrate blood transfusion was preformed on November 14, 1914 by Professor L. Agote. Although it was successful, it was thought to be too much work while in a war zone. "Prior to the discovery of sodium citrate to prevent blood from clotting in 1914, the use of blood transfusion was only through paraffin coated tubing and bottles, with considerable risk of the transfusion...
Words: 1454 - Pages: 6
...Epidemiology of Influenza Jaime Mercado Grand Canyon University Concepts in Community and Public Health NRS-427V-O504 Misty Stone August 14, 2015 Benchmark Assignment: Epidemiology of Influenza At the start of every winter season, hospitals rapidly begin preparation for the “Flu Season,” a time where vaccines are pushed heavily and every running/stuffy nose complete with fever is closely monitored to see if it will result in something more devious that the common cold; something called Influenza. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), defines this affliction as a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses; causing mild to severe illness; where serious outcomes of flu infection can result in hospitalization or death. (2015, para. 1). Now this virus is different than that of the cold; while some symptoms are similar, such as, sore throat, dry or productive cough, runny or stuffy nose, itchy eyes, and malaise, the big differences are fever or feeling feverish/chills, body aches, and the severity and onset of the symptoms. With influenza, symptoms have a rapid onset and can make you feel quite ill for a few days to weeks, while cold symptoms can make you feel bad for a few days. Influenza can also result in serious health problems such as pneumonia and bronchitis and can result in a hospitalization stay, mainly when concerning the very young, elderly or immuno-compromised individual. So, where did this hurtful virus come from and how is it transmitted...
Words: 1442 - Pages: 6
...• ^ International Committee on onomy of Viruses. "The Universal Virus Database, version 4: Influenza A". http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/ICTVdB/00.046.0.01.htm. [dead link] 1. ^ a b c d e f "Swine influenza". The Merck Veterinary Manual. 2008. ISBN 1442167424. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/121407.htm. Retrieved April 30, 2009. 2. ^ [1][dead link] 3. ^ Heinen PP (15 September 2003). "Swine influenza: a zoonosis". Veterinary Sciences Tomorrow. ISSN 1569-0830. http://www.vetscite.org/publish/articles/000041/print.html. "Influenza B and C viruses are almost exclusively isolated from man, although influenza C virus has also been isolated from pigs and influenza B has recently been isolated from seals." 4. ^ Bouvier NM, Palese P (September 2008). "THE BIOLOGY OF INFLUENZA VIRUSES". Vaccine 26 Suppl 4 (Suppl 4): D49–53. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.07.039. PMC 3074182. PMID 19230160. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=3074182. 5. ^ Kimura H, Abiko C, Peng G et al. (April 1997). "Interspecies transmission of influenza C virus between humans and pigs". Virus Research 48 (1): 71–9. doi:10.1016/S0168-1702(96)01427-X. PMID 9140195. 6. ^ a b Matsuzaki Y, Sugawara K, Mizuta K et al. (February 2002). "Antigenic and Genetic Characterization of Influenza C Viruses Which Caused Two Outbreaks in Yamagata City, Japan, in 1996 and 1998". Journal of Clinical Microbiology 40 (2): 422–9. doi:10.1128/JCM.40.2.422-429...
Words: 8637 - Pages: 35
...one pandemic, the benefits will outweigh all the time and energy we’re devoting. Imagine preventing health crises, not just responding to them.” Worldwide outbreaks of infectious disease will always be a threat to humanity, but additional issues around pandemics is the news broadcasting about current outbreaks. Media broadcastings are such a common thing that almost everyone in the world has access to some form of media to catch up on current events. Though pandemics will always be a threat to humanity, the media hypes up the severity of outbreaks. Research studies have shown that while pandemics and the...
Words: 1230 - Pages: 5
...agent for Bubonic Plague? The infectious agent for Bubonic Plague is basterium Yersinia Pestis. 4. By how much was the world population reduced during the Plague pandemic? The world population reduced an estimated 450 million during the Plague pandemic. 5. What year (within the past 100 years) did the world experience a flu pandemic? In 1918, also known as the Spanish Flu. 6. What are 3 symptoms of chikungunya fever? 3 symptoms of chikungunya fever are fever, headache, and vomiting. 7. What bacterium causes Lyme’s disease? Borrelia burgdorferi is the bacterium that cuases Lyme’s disease. 8. What is ‘erythema migrans?’ Erythema migrans refers to the rash often seen in the early stages of Lyme disease. It’s an actual skin infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. It is also the only manifestation of Lymes disease that allows clinical diagnosis in the absence of laboratory confirmation. 9. Find a disease transmitted by rabbits and list 2 symptoms. Tularemia is a disease transmitted by rabbits. Symptoms are fever and diarrhea. 10. What are symptoms of guinea worm disease? Symptoms of guinea worm disease include fever, swelling and pain in the area that the worm is about to come out of. 11. How long can a guinea worm grow? A guinea worm can grow up to 2-3 feet in length....
Words: 518 - Pages: 3
...1A I do. New diseases and pandemics shock government and individuals, and are difficult to treat. This remained true in the past, whether it be the Black Death or the Influenza pandemic of 1918, and true today, as examined by governments and society trying to adjust to the new threats of Ebola and Zika. The 1918 influenza pandemic and the current response to Zika can be compared by examining how similar they are in terms of showing how government quarantines can be counter productive and how government actions taken during the flu hurt the Ebola response in the modern world. Pg5. Many governments took efforts to stop the spreading of the flu in 1918. Some tried to promote public health and boost morale by framing the flu as a “metaphor...
Words: 2228 - Pages: 9
