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So 20%-40% of the world's population in 1918 were infected. What was different about the other 60%-80%? Why were they resistant?
Aw, gee, it was only about 50 million people who died. How many more dead did you want?
But to answer your question, and I'm quoting here:
".....................a worldwide 1889 outbreak of the so-called Russian flu, the H3N8 flu virus, left a generation of children that had not been exposed to anything resembling the Spanish flu, which was an H1N1 strain.
The spread of a more closely related H1 flu variety after 1900 provided partial immunity to children born after that time. That closed the window of vulnerability."
What this means is that older people had already gotten a milder version of the same flu in 1889, while younger children also had a milder version of another flu in the early 1900s. Both of those flus were similar enough to the 1918 flu to give those people immunity when the 1918 flu came around (and no, they did not get immunity from just being exposed to the flu. They had to have it). The people born between those times did not get the flu and did not have immunity to the 1918 flu when it came around in 1918. There is some further evidence that shows the first wave of influenza in early spring of 1918 sensitized those people who did not have immunity. So when the second wave of flu in autumn of 1918 went around, that one was lethal to those people.
All I'm trying to point out is if you have a disease or have a vaccination against a disease, you have a good chance of not getting it. Getting it or not getting it has nothing to do with your genes or with the fact that you have a healthy immune system. If your immune system does not recognize the invader by having already seen it in your body via being sick or having been immunized, you're going to get that flu no matter how healthy you think your immune system is. Unless, of course, you live in a cave somewhere and never come in contact with other people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jo48
So tell me. How many people did you ever know who lived through that 1918 epidemic. Let me see I knew my Grandpa, 3 Uncles, 4 Aunts, and my Grandma who lived with us. I grew up among all of them, and even lived in the same house growing up with Grandma. NONE of them ever talked about how horrible that flu was or how they were so sick from it or their children dying from it.
Sorry, I will trust real life people who lived it rather than science stories on the Internet trying to push fear and their profits.
What is YOUR experience? Reading Medical Journals about it?
I gave you a link that talked about the last remaining people alive who remembered the 1918 flu. Go read it.
And of course none of your relatives talked about it. It's called the unknown epidemic or the forgotten epidemic for just that reason. No one wants to remember families having to bury their own dead or bodies piled up in the morgue because there weren't enough people to bury them.
All of this is known by simply doing a little research on the web or by reading a couple books from your local library. The fact that you don't know about this again shows you're trying to talk to us about something when you have no idea what it is you're talking about.
Obviously, I was not around for that 1918 Pandemic, but certainly was for the ones in the 50's and 60's. Given that I always caught anything going around as a child and young adult, I probably was one of those "victims" of those two pandemics.
Everyone on here survived that 2009 Pandemic, whether we had the flu or not, or ever got that flu shot in that "pandemic".
Rodentraiser, I was 61 at the time of the last "pandemic". Most at risk vulnerable people to DIE. 1918 Pandemic type flu? I am sure next year when that new Universal Flu Vax is approved, pushed, and marketed, there will be another pandemic created so they can push the new vaccine on the fearful public. Hey, we can now eradicate all strains of the flu. Get your shot, and be protected for life! No, I do not want it.
You were lucky to survive the 2009 flu pandemic. Over 12,000 people in the US died from it as well as 284,000 people worldwide.
I don't understand you. There are people dying by the thousands of measles every day. Do you not realize that measles is measles? Do you really think the strain that is killing people in say, Africa is somehow different than the strain you will get here in the US when it comes around? What makes you think you're so special? Why would you think that the measles that kills everyone else isn't going to kill you?
In 2013 measles killed 145,700 people, which was 400 people every day, or 16 deaths an hour and that's with a 75% DROP in measles cases between 2000 and 2013 due to people being vaccinated.
I already survived one pandemic myself, the Hong Kong flu of 1957. I had pneumonia from that flu and my parents could ill afford to have me hospitalized. If there had been a vaccine for it then, my parents would surely have had me vaccinated. It would have saved them the time, money, and worry of me being in the hospital.
Well, if you want to be miserable and have the flu for a week with all its risks, throw up, have chills and fever, and miss work, feel free. The rest of us would prefer to get our flu vaccinations and remain healthy. Especially with the holidays coming up. We'll send you a get well card, how about that?
Speaking of measles: Measles Herd Immunity Won't Hold as Vaccinations Drop | Medpage Today
"Measles Herd Immunity Won't Hold as Vaccinations Drop"
"Zahn encouraged primary care providers to avoid the mindset that because there is a low rate of measles incidence that it's acceptable for parents to delay vaccination."
Anti-vaxers counting on herd immunity to protect them/their kids will have to come up with a "Plan B".
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 10-11-2015 at 06:43 PM..
You should be aware that people who survive some major diseases have more problems then they want to deal with afterwards. This is an older article, but still relevant today.
My grandmother was in her 20s. Everyone in the immediate family made it--parents, in-laws, siblings. I don't know about the rest of them. They lived in Wilkes-Barre, PA. There was daily train service to NY and a lot of other places. Maybe not for a while in 1918.
I heard she and my dad discuss explosions, factory fires, mine cave-ins and all sorts of things. She never mentioned flu when I was around.
She had the flu shot and got mysteriously pregnant. Those vaccines cause untold problems. Corporate conspiracy etc.
Did she fall in the woods? Sorry, I couldn't resist.
I have read many times that the 1918 flu pandemic was global. If someone doesn't choose to read further--and I have--there's no reason to believe that statement is patently false.
Your "clown thinking" comment was rude and unnecessary.
My grandmother was in her 20s. Everyone in the immediate family made it--parents, in-laws, siblings. I don't know about the rest of them. They lived in Wilkes-Barre, PA. There was daily train service to NY and a lot of other places. Maybe not for a while in 1918.
I heard she and my dad discuss explosions, factory fires, mine cave-ins and all sorts of things. She never mentioned flu when I was around.
You can read about Wilkes-Barre and the 1918 flu here. Just do a search in the article for "Wilkes-Barre".
"At this time the influenza and pneumonia conditions were 'ap-
palling' in certain localities in Luzerne County. At Glen Lyon,
as well as at Georgetown in the township of Wilkes-Barre, the
situation was very serious. An average of about 75 new cases
per day in Wilkes-Barre was being reported, while all the
emergency hospitals in the District were without sufficient help.
On October 22 new cases in Wilkes-Barre to the number of 120
were reported, while conditions in Glen Lyon, Nanticoke, Wan-
amie and some other places in the 5th District were 'desperate'. "
"On November 4 only seventy-three new cases in Wilkes-Barre
were reported, and there were very gratifying indications that the
scourge was subsiding in most parts of Luzerne County. It was
estimated that 10,000 coal miners in the County were idle because
of the 'flu.'"
"On November 18 the number of cases of influenza-pneumonia
in Wilkes-Barre had increased to such an alarming degree that
the municipal authorities imposed another quarantine ban, clos-
ing all amusement houses and prohibiting public assemblages.
Eleven days later this ban was removed, although the daily aver-
age of new cases of influenza and pneumonia totaled about thirty-
five. The public schools of the city, however, having been closed
about two months, were not re-opened until December 4, although
at that time about eighteen new influenza cases a day were being
reported in Wilkes-Barre. Conditions in other parts of the County
seemed to be improving."
"On December 15, owing to the large increase in the number of
influenza cases in Wilkes-Barre, the municipal authorities ordered
the closing of all schools except the City High School and private
schools of a corresponding grade. Also, children under fourteen
years of age were forbidden to attend theatres and motion-picture
shows, to ride in pubHc conveyances and to visit stores. The
sessions of Sunday Schools were also directed to be discontinued.
The epidemic seemed to be particularly prevalent among children.
One hundred and four cases of influenza in Wilkes-Barre were
reported on December 17, and the next day the municipal author-
ities imposed additional quarantine restrictions, the chief of which
was that persons in quarantined houses — excepting physicians,
and others given special permits — should not enter or leave such
houses."
So tell me. How many people did you ever know who lived through that 1918 epidemic. Let me see I knew my Grandpa, 3 Uncles, 4 Aunts, and my Grandma who lived with us. I grew up among all of them, and even lived in the same house growing up with Grandma. NONE of them ever talked about how horrible that flu was or how they were so sick from it or their children dying from it.
Sorry, I will trust real life people who lived it rather than science stories on the Internet trying to push fear and their profits.
What is YOUR experience? Reading Medical Journals about it?
My mother was the youngest of 9. That family went through the 1918 Influenza Epidemic. As I've said earlier, my aunt, 26 years old and pregnant, succumbed to the flu. The rest of the family got sick but did not die, just got really really sick and they feared they would lose my grandmother and some other of the children. I heard about the horrors of the epidemic from them all (the aunt that died of the flu was the only one who didn't live until an advanced age and I knew all of them well) except for the grandparents in question, who died of old age, basically, the year before I was born. A VERY healthy family - raising 9 kids to adulthood without losing one was a real achievement in those days. My grandmother on the other side, sturdy farm stock, gave birth to six, lost two before the age of two. That was more common due to the lack of vaccinations for common diseases (smallpox, polio, influenza, measles, etc.) at that time.
So, there, now we're even in "people who lived it" stories.
Yeah, it was global. It went all the way north into Eskimo villages and as far south as there were people.
"The effect of the influenza epidemic was so severe that the average life span in the US was depressed by 10 years. The influenza virus had a profound virulence, with a mortality rate at 2.5% compared to the previous influenza epidemics, which were less than 0.1%. The death rate for 15 to 34-year-olds of influenza and pneumonia were 20 times higher in 1918 than in previous years (Taubenberger). People were struck with illness on the street and died rapid deaths. One anectode shared of 1918 was of four women playing bridge together late into the night. Overnight, three of the women died from influenza (Hoagg). Others told stories of people on their way to work suddenly developing the flu and dying within hours (Henig). One physician writes that patients with seemingly ordinary influenza would rapidly "develop the most viscous type of pneumonia that has ever been seen" and later when cyanosis appeared in the patients, "it is simply a struggle for air until they suffocate," (Grist, 1979). Another physician recalls that the influenza patients "died struggling to clear their airways of a blood-tinged froth that sometimes gushed from their nose and mouth," (Starr, 1976)."
And by the way, that mortality rate of 2.5% today would mean that 175 million people would die. For perspective, that's a total of 21,875,000 New York cities wiped off the map.
And some people don't want to get their flu shots.
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