As all of you know, these past few years have been a rollercoaster. These have been years characterized by their many ups and downs. I believe I speak for the majority when I say that Covid-19 has been the worst element.
This pandemic has impacted our way of life dramatically and will continue to cast a shadow over our daily lives for the foreseeable future. But what if I told you around a century ago there was a pandemic that dwarfs Covid-19?
The Spanish Flu of 1918 is the most severe pandemic of the last 400 years. Statistically, it makes Covid-19 seem minuscule in comparison. The Spanish Flu is estimated to have infected more than 500 million people, claiming the lives of around 50 million.
The 1918 Spanish Flu impacted the entire world, leaving scars that would last for decades to come. The Spanish Flu was unique, for it attacked the world in three successive waves. The exact origins of the Spanish Flu remain shrouded in mystery, but historians have been able to formulate an accurate timeline of the waves.
The first wave of the Spanish Flu lasted from early March of 1918 to the middle of August 1918. Michaela Nickol in the article “A Year of Terror and a Century of Reflection,” stated that reports of the first wave of the virus suggest that the pandemic originated with Chinese workers at Camp Funston, Kansas, where the workers began suffering from 2 to 3-day fevers, gastrointestinal symptoms, and general weakness (1).
The disease quickly spread throughout a US Army that was embroiled in World War I. The pandemic soon escaped the confines of the US army camps, racing throughout countries worldwide. The US failed to release crucial information about the pandemic to the public, causing countless to not to take adequate preventive measures against the virus.
The first wave is generally believed to be the least fatal phase of the pandemic, though accurate reports are hard to find. According to the organization History (2020), the infected “usually recovered after several days, and the number of reported deaths was low.” The low death toll is attributed to how the first strain of the virus generally only caused typical flu symptoms.
Despite the low death toll, the wave massively impacted military operations in numerous armies during WWI. When the virus reached Australia in late July, the wave began to recede. The world had little time to recover, as the second wave struck but days after the first began to recede.
The Spanish Flu hit its peak during the deadly second wave, which spanned late August 1918 to the end of the year. The spread was helped again by the movement of military troops, with the virus soon expanding to eclipse North and South America.
Proper precautions were again avoided, as trade ships soon carried the virus to Europe. The second wave swept through Europe and Asia, ravaging everything it touched. In “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History” John Barry estimates that “Influenza killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century; it killed more people in twenty-weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years” (5).
The virus was especially deadly, as the high mortality rate was not limited to the young and old. In the CDC article simply titled “1918 Pandemic,” it is stated that the virus was equally deadly to healthy people in the 20–40-year age group, a unique feature of this virus.
The second wave was incredibly fatal, with an estimated 30-40 million fatalities worldwide. October 1918 is historically recorded to have the highest death rate of the entire pandemic. The 1918 flu pandemic was especially deadly in India, with an estimated 12-20 million deaths occurring in the country.
The high mortality rate in India is mainly attributed to its population density and poor living conditions. By late December, the wave was mostly over. With much of the world’s population still reeling from the historic second wave, the third and final wave arrived.
The Spanish Flu’s third and final wave began in January of 1919 and would span the entire year. The third wave hit Australia first before it proceeded to spread through Europe and the United States once more. This final wave is known to have mainly affected multiple European countries.
The third wave did not come close to the heights of the second wave yet was still deadlier than the first. In the late months of 1919, the pandemic, at last, neared its end. The virus had torn through the world, and many historians say that even the 50 million death figure is too low.
In Charles Rivers words in “The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic: The History and Legacy of the World’s Deadliest Influenza Outbreak,” the ongoing war and censorship maintained by the countries fighting it may have resulted in the actual toll of the outbreak being underestimated based on the way soldier’s deaths were categorized (5).
The last cases were reported in Europe, before the Spanish Flu, at last, died out. It is incomprehensible what the world had to go through but a century ago. In the words of Catharine Arnold, “One of the most shocking aspects of the Spanish Flu was that, like its predecessors the Black Death and the Plague, it struck with terrifying speed. Victims could be fine at breakfast and dead by teatime.”
As we look back on this monumental tragedy, we must realize the countless factors and events that contributed to it. By dissecting the timeline of this outbreak, we can better understand how it became one of the deadliest pandemics in history, and in turn learn more about the events we now find ourselves living through.
Works Cited
Nickol, Michaela E., and Jason Kindrachuk. “A Year of Terror and a Century of Reflection: Perspectives on the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918–1919.” BMC Infectious Diseases, vol. 19, no. 1, 2019, doi:10.1186/s12879-019-3750-8.
History.com Editors. “Spanish Flu.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Oct. 2010, www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic.
Barry, John M. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. Penguin Books, 2018.
CDC. “1918 Pandemic (H1N1 Virus).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 Mar. 2019, www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html.
Rivers, Charles. The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic: The History and Legacy of the World’s Deadliest Influenza Outbreak. Charles River Editors, 2017.
