eBook Influenza 1918 ePub

Reggy

While I think this is a good overview of the pandemic, I wish better use had been made of the extensive interviews done for the American Experience episode upon which it was based. Even the addition of an appendix of full interviews would have been helpful. Influenza 1918 seems to have been written with the attention span of television viewers in mind -- rather than as an extension of the excellent script upon which it was based. The PBS version focused more upon the sociological effects of the flu and left me wondering if perhaps the breakdown of the American family began with the fear of exposure to the deadly virus and not with the introduction of the "glass teat." The book, on the other hand, left me wanting more history and less assumption that that the reader doesn't want to READ. Influenza 1918 is simply the latest in the trend of PBS book tie-ins that doesn't deliver the goods on a promising subject.

Berkohi

Influenza 1918 is a fascinating, well written account of the horrors of the "Spanish Lady."
It is a terrific and compact introduction to the tragic events surrounding the 1918 flu.
For those wanting a more comprehensive history or a more in in-depth exploration of the science behind the pandemic...look elsewhere.

Shan

If you are interested in the WWI period this book will inform you of the second tragedy-the epidemic. All of our families world wide were touched and this book is very informative.

Maman

This book gives a day by day, city by city, nation by nation acount of the great influenza pandemic of 1918. Called the "Spanish Flu", the flu killed over 500,000 people in the USA, and anywhere from 20 million to 100 million worldwide. This book documents how it started in the shadow of World War 1, how it spread, and how cities, families, and institutions coped with the extremely virulent disease. There are many personal accounts given of different people in different locations, relating how the flu took family members and friends. Much attention is given to the US military bases, as the disease appears to have started in these camps by returning soldiers from Europe and then sread like a wildfire on a parched prairie. The death statistics are astounding and alarming.

The great flu pandemic of 1918 is charted and described from start to finish in this book. Since we have not experienced anything like it in the past nearly 90 years, it is hard for the reader to imagine the chilling horror and rank death that prevailed that deadly fall and winter of 1918.

I read this book because of interest in the current bird flu epidemic in China and SE Asia. Could we have another killer strain of influenza ravage the world as the "Spanish Flu" did in 1918? The answer to that question is unfortunately, "Yes". As explained in the book, viral flu RNA intermingles in the lungs and organs of humans, ducks, chickens, and pigs. Strands of RNA are shared and mingled and it is quite possible that another killer strain of influenza could terrorize the world. With international travel more available than ever, the virus could be transported worldwide in days, bringing death to every part of the globe. Since a vaccine takes time to make and distribute, a new devastating human flu strain could kill untold millions (perhaps billions) of people before treatment is available.

This book is a chilling reminder that despite our technological advances in medicine, we are still extremely vulnerable to viral disease epidemics (witness HIV virus, Ebola virus, etc.). Yes, it could happen again, and that thought sends chills through my being.

A very interesting book that will get you thinking about our current threat of a mutating bird flu.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig

godlike

This is the companion book to the television documentary on PBS "The American Experience". It provides a concise history of the great flu pandemic of 1918. Flu mostly kills the old or unhealthy; this "Spanish flu" was most dangerous to those between 15 and 40, in the prime of life (p.16). It attacked suddenly and killed quickly. Medical science was helpless, it did not even know this was a virus. Scientists today don't know why this "Spanish flu" was so deadly or how to create a vaccine against it in time (p.220). Pathologist recovered the remnants of an RNA virus to identify it (p.223). The "Spanish flu" closely resembles a pig flu isolated in 1930. There is an interaction between humans, pigs, and fowl in this disease. This was the worst epidemic in American history.

Chapter 1 begins in Spring 1918 with influenza deaths in Fort Riley Kansas. The civilian influenza deaths weren't noticed until later. There was an epidemic of influenza in April 1918, people began to call it "Spanish influenza". Being at peace, Spain had no censorship about civilian life (p.37). The warring nations had shortages of food, clothing, soap, coal, and other essentials. (p.38). Plus stress and hardship? Chapter 2 explains that flu virusses live in birds, but require another animal, like pigs, to spread it to humans. These virusses are constantly changing, creating a problem for the human immune system. Chapter 3 deals with rumors, such as the spread of germs by the enemy Germans (p.67). If the author know more of history and sabotage she wouldn't mock this false idea. "The Enemy Within" by Henry Landau. This "Spanish flu" mostly killed "young, vigorous, robust adults". Before WW II more soldiers died from disease than battle.

Chapter 4 tells of the pandemic around the nation and across the world. Chapter 5 describes the failures of medical science to develop a vaccine. Test "volunteers" from a prison could not get the flu, but their doctor did, and died (pp.110-111). The shortage of doctors resulted in the use of dentists and veterinarians (p.115). This epidemic disrupted normal life. The worst-hit city was Philadelphia Penna (Chapter 6). Dead people were put out in the streets to be taken to mass graves, like during the Black Death in XIV century Europe. Fresh air and sunshine helped to cure (p.143). Then NY became "the deadliest place in the nation" (p.158). Sometimes the "dead" returned to life (p.169). The flu epidemic seemed to be accelerating (p.174). This flu epidemic seemed to end The Great War (Chapter 8). The cold weather of November was followed by a decrease in flu victims (p.177). But there were after-effects from this flu (p.184).

This book repeats the Big Lie that the "punitive peace" of WW I caused WW II. This "peace" did not result in the occupation and purge of the German ruling class of aristocrats and corporate leaders. They did not make this mistake after WW II (p.189). President Wilson was handicapped by his disease (pp.190-191). Insurance actuaries computed the cost of the Spanish flu (p.193). After the dying stopped the "Forgetting" started (Chapter 9). More Americans died in ten months than during the Civil War, more than all 20th century wars (p.204). Was it human nature to ignore this unpleasant reality (p.206)? "Swine flu" began in the autumn of 1918 and every fall after; it had the identical symptoms of the Spanish flu (p.210). Canine distemper is also similar. Dr. Richard Shope found the swine flu virus in 1930. One after effect was setting up national health departments to track disease (p.213). The drift and shift of the flu virus creates everlasting threats to humans (p.214).

What made the Spanish Lady so deadly to the 15 to 40 age group? Perhaps it was war-time rationing that deprived this generation of the food, minerals, and vitamins needed for a healthy body.