By: Risha Chaurasia
With the Covid-19 pandemic raging on and gradually engulfing the world population in its shackles, let’s take a look at a similar outbreak that happened a century ago.
The Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918 was the deadliest outbreak the world ever saw, with over 1/3rd of the world population (500 million) infected and 50 million dead. Piles of dead bodies flooded the morgues and thousands of families broke. What started off as a minor flu in Europe turned into a global outbreak in a matter of weeks, something noticed with COVID-19 too.
But there’s nothing to worry about, due to advancements in science and technology effective treatments have been found and people are at a lower death threat. However at that time no such technology was present, making it harder to combat the disease.
However the 2020 pandemic and Spanish flu have a lot in common.
Then too, billions were quarantined, businesses shut down and everyone ordered to wear a mask. In fact, the New York Health Commission devised a new way of tackling the crisis. They told shopkeepers to open shops in shifts to overcome overcrowding, a method being used this time around too.
The Spanish flu began as a mild and regular flu and the sick experienced regular flu symptoms like chills, fever and fatigue, and they recovered quickly.
Then, how did this regular flu turn into a global pandemic?
The second wave brought it in. In fall the same year, a highly contagious and virulent wave took over the world. The flu spread like leaves on a windy day! Patients died within hours of developing the flu. Symptoms turned into blue skin and lungs filling with fluids, causing them to suffocate! In a year, the average life expectancy dropped by decades.
Another question arises, if it affected the entire world, why is it known as the Spanish Flu?
This is because Spain was the worst hit! In fact, the King himself contracted the flu!
What made this flu different was that it affected the young and healthy more, a group resistant to viruses and diseases. A large number of WW1 servicemen were the worst hit. More soldiers died due to the flu than in the war itself! Forty percent of the U.S. Navy was hit with the flu,and 36 percent of the Army. However the exact numbers of total victims are still unknown due to lack of medical records.
The world has a long history of outbreaks and pandemic, yet each one of them teaches us a lot and helps us progress and develop!
“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. They act as a portal, a gateway between one world and next,” - Arundhati Roy