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In light of the recent outbreak of swine flu, I thought that I would create a web page on the 1918 flu pandemic, which was one of the worst pandemics to have hit the world since the plague of the black death in the middle ages. I also hope to offer some reassurance. I believe that the recent virus strain called " Swine-Flu" will soon be contained due to our knowledge of these viruses and pandemics from the past, more specifically the pandemic that spread across the world in 1918. The 1918 pandemic was labelled as "the greatest medical holocaust in history" A killer flu virus that due to ignorance was not contained but spread like wildfire and infected millions of people. The infected ones just kept on piling up and below is a photo of one of the many places where the sick were contained, monitored and nursed. As you can see there are quite a few people in this one small room, in fact they are wall to wall.
The 1918 influenza pandemic that was known as "Spanish Flu" spread around the entire globe from March 1918 until June 1920. It was caused by the lethal influenza strain called strain 'A' subtype H1N1, it was a strain of influenza that killed an estimated 5% of all those that contracted the illness. 5% may not sound a lot but it was in effect between 90 and 100 million deaths worldwide out of 1 billion infected people. This number of deaths was more than those who were killed in World War One...
...a war that coincidentally ended in November 1918 as the virus was getting well under way on its epic crusade to kill as many people around the world as possible.
The virus was in two waves, the first wave resembled a typical strain of flu but was obviously a very powerful strain with its killer attributes, but the 2nd wave was even more devastating and faster acting, the virus it is thought, had mutated in the dirty and unhygienic trenches of the First World War...the ideal breeding ground.
The virus killed via a method know as a 'cytokine storm' in that the immune system in the bodies of people infected over reacted to the virus and went haywire. This of course meant that young healthy people as well as old and frail were all susceptible to die from this virus regardless, and this is another contributing factor as to why such a high death toll occurred. Everybody in the world is different, nobody is the same as the next person but the way our immune system works with its anti-bodies building up and attacking germs is the same. The statistics of how many died is quite staggering when scrutinized. It is thought that over five hundred thousand and up to one million people died every week over the first six months. These figures for the first six months include:
The colossal amount of people who died was due to ignorance. This is not human stubbornness that I am referring to but ignorance of the facts due to poor communication of the time, this along with poor education of the virus and ways to contain it.
Today the majority of us are aware of the virus via news items, internet articles, TV, Radio and other means and we can take preventative measures to combat it and indeed stop the spread of it. Simple things like blowing ones nose into a tissue and safely disposing of it, or washing ones hands and face with cleansing creams and gels that kill germs and the common use of disinfectants used on surfaces all help to combat pandemics.
Commonly and widely available drugs such as paracetomol and vitamins can also be preventative, pre-strengthening the bodies defence systems and safeguarding against the build up of germs.
Signs and notices in 1918 similar to the one reproduced below came too late to be of any real warning
The above sign made me smile " Spread of Spanish influenza menaces our war production " However, as I read into it as... Don't get killed by germs, get killed by bombs and bullets instead. Unlike today, in 1918 these simple measures to help combat the flu virus were just not undertaken on any large scale. This is why I believe that the virus will be contained and will not break out into a population killing bug. More about swine flu.... What is swine flu and how does it differ from regular flu? Swine flu is a respiratory disease and within it are found some elements of a virus found in pigs. For residents of the USA and UK there is no evidence of this circulating in your pigs, scientists however are investigating its origins. Swine flu has been confirmed in a number of other countries and as it was not contained in its early stages it is spreading from person to person quite rapidly and it could lead to a pandemic if it is not isolated within communities. A pandemic flu differs from regular flu because its a totally new strain of virus and spreads rapidly. On a global scale the World Health Organization is closely monitoring all cases of swine flu to see if it develops into a pandemic. How does swine flu spread? Flu viruses are composed of tiny particles that are generally spread through miniscule droplets that are dispersed into the air from the nostrils and mouth when a person sneezes or coughs. When you cough or sneeze without covering your mouth and nose with a tissue these droplets and germs within them become airborne and are either breathed in by others or they settle onto surfaces that are then touched by others who may then put their fingers to their mouths. These germs can survive for quite some time in airborne state or static on surfaces.
You can help to protect yourself and your family by following some simple measures such as carrying tissues and to constantly wash you hands. It is a good idea to use one of the many sanitizing gels or foam hand sprays on a regular basis and also to wipe some of this on your face and around your mouth. Some of the symptoms of swine flu are headache, tiredness, sore throat, aching muscles, chills, lots of sneezing, runny nose and loss of appetite. If you think that you may have these symptoms then stay at home and call your doctor. Vigilance, early diagnosis and containment are the best weapons against the new Swine Flu virus that we have and not the so called vaccine... THE VACCINE CONSPIRACY Please visit the Conspiracy Zone to read...Click image...
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