Term paper - Copy
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
University of Phoenix *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
ECOLOGY
Subject
Medicine
Date
Nov 24, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
6
Uploaded by Ozilbaba
Spanish flu
For centuries, emerging and reemerging infectious diseases like the influenza flu
pandemic have been perceived as a bad omen in our communities since they threaten human and
animal health and the global economy and security. Usually, these infections can cause
outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics, resulting in high mortality, morbidity, and health costs
while disrupting the social and political environment stability and effective trade, travel, and
tourism (
Qiu et al., 2017). As a result, most countries since the Spanish flu pandemic have highly
invested and improved their healthcare system to be able to manage any future infectious
outbreak due to the failure of most countries to identify, manage, and handle the Spanish flu that
claimed the lives of about 33% of the global population (Lea, 2021). But why are emerging and
reemerging infections and diseases like the Spanish flu still threatening the global population?
The Spanish flu was a deadly influenza pandemic in 1918-1919. It infected about one-third of the
world's population and killed approximately 50 million people in a single wave in late 1918,
making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history (Worobey et al., 2014). Most scientists and
research facilities still consider the flu a unique infection. Its origin, epidemiology, and
pathogenesis are still puzzling, as most of its fatalities were accompanied by secondary bacterial
pneumonia. In addition, the unusual mortality peaked in patients aged 25 to 29 while being
comparatively mild in those slightly older and younger (Worobey et al., 2014). The term paper
will discuss the history behind the Spanish flu, its discovery, characteristics, mode of infection,
the economic condition it caused, and the situation it drove the global population into.
The Spanish flu is remembered as one of the deadliest emerging infections. It killed more
people in a year than the entire "black death" of the 14
th
century, as it set the global civilization
towards the path of our modern flu vaccine (Harris, 1970). The Spanish flu was caused by a
variant of the influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that is believed to be a product of evolution and
laboratory experiments. The first case of the pandemic broke out in 1918 during the final year of
the First World War, making its origin to be undetermined. However, the first case of the flu in
the United States was reported in the early spring of 1918 in a Kansas military camp. Several
reports pointed to
Albert Gitchel as the possible patient zero for the virus (Harris, 1970). The flu
had symptoms like a very high body temperature of
104º Fahrenheit, fever, dry cough, headache
and body aches, sore throat, runny nose, loss of appetite, and extreme fatigue. As a result, the
Allied nations raged from fear of a new form of biological warfare to the byproduct of trench
warfare resulting from the use of mustard gas. Influenza A (H1H1) was called the "Spanish flu"
because it was first widely reported in Spain, a neutral country during World War I, and did not
censor its news.
The Spanish flu claimed more lives than the war itself due to the close living
arrangements and unsanitary conditions in the trenches and the camps, which led to direct
contact for the soldiers that aided the rapid spread of the virus during World War I. In addition, it
prolonged the suffering of the global population as the pandemic also followed the movement of
soldiers around the globe, such as the American Expeditionary Forces who were deployed out of
Kansa to France were suspected to be carriers of the flu, in the attempt to halt the German
Ludendorff Offensive only to spread the infectious virus to some of the Allies territories (Harris,
1970). Also, little attention was paid to the emerging danger as most contemporary physicians
during that era described the flu as a "three-day fever," allowing it to circulate further in Europe
in the late spring and early summer of 1918. During the initial phase of the pandemic, most
patients recovered quickly, with only a minority suffering fatalities. However, the flu reemerged
in late August, causing greater lethality worldwide.
The second phase of the pandemic began in major military port cities, infecting around
500 million people worldwide. Hospitals were overwhelmed, and doctors and nurses suffered
disproportionately. Pulmonary complications increased, leading to a 25-fold higher mortality rate
than regular outbreaks. In addition, military officials initially recognized the severity of the flu
(Lea, 2021). Still, they did not understand its nature, while the civilian public health programs
remained conflicted about responding to the pandemic. Since the pandemic occurred during a
major global war, most leaders considered carrying on with the war as imposing quarantines to
contain the pandemic was perceived to be too detrimental to the war economy; thus, physicians
and medical researchers could ultimately do little about the flu's onslaught. However, after
acknowledging the threat, various countries and local governments took measures to contain the
flu by initiating various isolation strategies. In New York, people with the flu were required to
stay home, while in Chicago, theaters and public gatherings were closed. In San Francisco,
mask-wearing was encouraged, and public transportation was advised to avoid. Public spaces
like theaters, churches, and schools were closed in southeastern Minnesota ("History of flu
(influenza): Outbreaks and vaccine timeline
"
nd). In 1918, the Mayo Clinic treated patients with
the flu and other contagious illnesses in isolation hospitals.
The 1918 Spanish flu left an essential legacy in the history of medicine as most
physicians wanted to quietly forget their inability to combat the pandemic from the shocking
death tolls, inspiring a surge in biomedical research. After the pandemic had passed, biomedical
research was conducted to reevaluate the etiology of influenza to prevent a future pandemic.
Through medical research, flu serum was developed that contained a mixed vaccine and
pneumonia-causing bacteria and distributed to Rochester residents for free. Although it didn't
work as a flu vaccine, it might have provided some protection against pneumonia after the flu
.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
1935, the H1N1 influenza strain was isolated, paving the way for a vaccine tested on U.S.
soldiers during World War II
.
The research study conducted on the genesis and pathogenesis of
the Spanish flu H1H1 influenza A virus suggested that the virus originated shortly before 1918
when a human H1 virus that was inferred to have emerged before 1907 acquired avian N1
neuraminidase and internal protein genes (Worobey et al., 2014). A similar find that the resulting
pandemic virus jumped directly to swine but was likely displaced in humans by 1922 by a
reassortant with an antigenically distinct H1 HA was also discovered. As a result, the pathogen
was transmitted through reassortment with a human prepandemic H1 lineage, and internal genes
arose from a Western hemispheric avian influenza virus, exhibiting similar phylogenetic patterns.
The Spanish flu reached Australia in 1919 and remains the country's most severe
pandemic regarding health outcomes. At the pandemic's peak, sickness due to influenza
temporarily incapacitated 2% of the labor force ( Bishop, 2020). Globally, despite the social
distancing measures used by most governments to contain the virus, considerable job losses in
this period were due to a lack of available work. In addition, the Spanish flu reduced real GDP
per capita by around 6% in countries like Australia throughout the pandemic. Likewise, the
pandemic reduced private consumption by 8%, a decline comparable to the Great Recession of
2008–2009 (Maas, 2020). Therefore, the Spanish flu led to a decline in economic activity and
elevated inflation, resulting in significant declines in actual stock returns and short-term
government bonds.
Even though the influenza virus is not a threat in the way it was in 1918, the flu is still a
severe virus today. In 1918, there was no valid vaccination, while countries like the United States
only took preventative measures so the disease would not spread. As the population became
immune and adapted to the influenza virus, it evolved to defend itself against H and N proteins.
Still, the virus evolved and became proactive, making it very difficult for antibodies to see and
act on it, allowing it to stay active throughout the world until today. The vaccine currently used
to treat the flu holds a specific "H1N1 component" that would ensure that the same 1918 virus
could not find itself in the current day (Worobey et al., 2014). In addition, drugs like Flumadine
and Tamiflu are now used to fight the flu by preventing and guarding virus variations through
animals like rats.
Generally, The vaccination against the H1N1 strain of influenza in our annual flu shot has
helped the current civilization to keep the Spanish flu at bay with the hope that we do not have a
repeat of the 1918 pandemic. The pandemic's economic consequences included labor shortages,
wage increases, and the increased use of social security systems.
However, the pandemic was a
catastrophe that should never have been forgotten due to human ignorance and the war that
prevented effective containment and proper biomedical research to create vaccines. In addition,
the Spanish flu is now recognized to have had some significant historical
impact because there is still a variation of the influenza virus today. Unlike 1918, we are more
aware of the virus's capabilities and handling. The 2009 swine flu demonstrated that the flu still
needs severe attention and ongoing research to prevent further deaths, highlighting the need for
continued efforts to prevent further pandemics.
References
Qiu, W., Rutherford, S., Mao, A., & Chu, C. (2017). The pandemic and its
impacts.
Health, culture and society
,
9
, 1-11.
Bishop, J. (2020, June 18).
Economic effects of the Spanish flu: Bulletin
. Reserve Bank of
Australia. https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2020/jun/economic-effects-of-the-
spanish-flu.html
Harris, J. (1970, October 1).
The 1918 flu pandemic
. Origins.
https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/pandemic-flu-spanish-flu-1918-H1N1-WW1-vaccine?
language_content_entity=en
Lea, R. (2021, September 21).
How many Americans died from Spanish flu and how the
pandemic ended
. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/how-many-americans-died-
spanish-flu-pandemic-end-1918-first-world-war-1631104
Maas, S. (2020, May 5).
Social and economic impacts of the 1918 influenza epidemic
. NBER.
https://www.nber.org/digest/may20/social-and-economic-impacts-1918-influenza-epidemic
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (n.d.).
History of flu (influenza):
Outbreaks and vaccine timeline
. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-
conditions/history-disease-outbreaks-vaccine-timeline/flu
Worobey, M., Han, G.-Z., & Rambaut, A. (2014). Genesis and pathogenesis of the 1918
pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
,
111
(22), 8107–8112. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1324197111
.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help