About a hundred years ago, in September 1918, there was an outbreak of such a terrible disease, which had affected about 500 million people around the world and according to an estimate, 20 million to 50 million victims lost their lives, including some 675,000 Americans. It was 3% to 6% of the entire global population at that time and these numbers were more than those killed in world war 1. The dreaded disease we are talking about is known as Spanish Flu 1918. It was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus. It is a virus that attacks the respiratory system. This flu killed more people in 24 weeks than HIV/AIDS killed in 24 years, and more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. Actually, no one knows exactly where and how this disease started, but behind its nickname "Spanish flu", a story is told that the thirteenth ruler of Spain named King Alfonso was also suffered from this disease and that's why people gave it the nickname of Spanish flu. Apart from this, people tell another story behind its nickname that at the time when this disease had spread, World War 1 was going through its last phase and because of this, the countries which were involved in this war stopped the broadcasting of their news. But Spain was not involved in this war, that's why Spain told the world about this disease through its news broadcasting and many people believe that due to the spread of this news through Spain, this disease was named Spanish Flu.
Before this flu, all the severe diseases that people had faced, in that, children, old people or those who were already ill, had the highest death rate because the immune system of such people is very weak and the infection spreads very quickly in them. But the Spanish flu had exactly the opposite effects because the deaths of people between 20 and 40 years were getting the highest and the doctors of that time were also very surprised by these results and therefore this flu was considered one of the deadliest epidemics in human history. As we have told earlier, when and how this disease started, no one is aware of it properly, but many people have said different things about its fatal attack. Some people consider it to have originated from china while Historian Alfred W. Crosby claimed that the flu originated in the Kansas state of the U.S when on 4 March 1918, the military cook Albert Gitchell was found infected with the virus. And soon after this, the disease spread to 522 more men at the camp. Later, when science progressed a little, it was discovered that this disease originated in a nonhuman, mammalian species, which went further to pig and then humans.
When scientific research was done on some dead bodies, the reason behind the outbreak of the flu was very surprising because it was found that the virus could be caused by the patient sneezing or coughing. A person who touches something with the virus on it and then touches his mouth, eyes or nose can become infected. After this people started wearing masks on their mouths. Also, public places, including theaters, churches, and schools were shut down to control the disease. The effect of this flu was highest in America, Europe, Brazil and also in India. The disease killed in every area of the globe. As many as 17 million people died in India, about 5% of the population. Some doctors and scientists said that in this flu, patients turn blue, suffocating from a lack of oxygen as lungs filled with a frothy, bloody substance. However, since the understanding of the people of that time and the suggestion of the doctors, this disease appeared to be decreasing very rapidly and after two years, it became almost nil. But in the future, many diseases related to the same virus continued, such as Swine Flu, Bird Flu, but as science progressed, these diseases were not allowed to spread too much.
Before this flu, all the severe diseases that people had faced, in that, children, old people or those who were already ill, had the highest death rate because the immune system of such people is very weak and the infection spreads very quickly in them. But the Spanish flu had exactly the opposite effects because the deaths of people between 20 and 40 years were getting the highest and the doctors of that time were also very surprised by these results and therefore this flu was considered one of the deadliest epidemics in human history. As we have told earlier, when and how this disease started, no one is aware of it properly, but many people have said different things about its fatal attack. Some people consider it to have originated from china while Historian Alfred W. Crosby claimed that the flu originated in the Kansas state of the U.S when on 4 March 1918, the military cook Albert Gitchell was found infected with the virus. And soon after this, the disease spread to 522 more men at the camp. Later, when science progressed a little, it was discovered that this disease originated in a nonhuman, mammalian species, which went further to pig and then humans.
When scientific research was done on some dead bodies, the reason behind the outbreak of the flu was very surprising because it was found that the virus could be caused by the patient sneezing or coughing. A person who touches something with the virus on it and then touches his mouth, eyes or nose can become infected. After this people started wearing masks on their mouths. Also, public places, including theaters, churches, and schools were shut down to control the disease. The effect of this flu was highest in America, Europe, Brazil and also in India. The disease killed in every area of the globe. As many as 17 million people died in India, about 5% of the population. Some doctors and scientists said that in this flu, patients turn blue, suffocating from a lack of oxygen as lungs filled with a frothy, bloody substance. However, since the understanding of the people of that time and the suggestion of the doctors, this disease appeared to be decreasing very rapidly and after two years, it became almost nil. But in the future, many diseases related to the same virus continued, such as Swine Flu, Bird Flu, but as science progressed, these diseases were not allowed to spread too much.
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