The Spanish Flu Was Deadlier Than WWI | History

Summary

El guion describe la pandemia de la gripe española de 1918, causada por un virus de la gripe altamente letal que mató al menos 50 millones de personas en todo el mundo, incluyendo a 675,000 estadounidenses. Durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, la propagación del virus fue oculta por los países involucrados para mantener la moral y los recursos. La falta de conocimientos sobre los virus y la ausencia de tratamientos efectivos llevaron a medidas de cuarentena y higiene personal. El impacto fue tan devastador que la esperanza de vida en EE. UU. disminuyó en 12 años y el número de muertes superó a las bajas en la guerra.

Takeaways

• 💉 En 2017, más del 37% de los adultos en los EE. UU. recibieron una vacuna contra la gripe, a pesar de que aproximadamente 80,000 personas murieron por el virus en el país.
• 🌐 En 1918, no existía la vacuna contra la gripe, y al menos 50 millones de personas murieron en todo el mundo debido a la llamada Gripe Española.
• 😷 La Gripe Española es considerada la segunda plaga más mortal de la historia, después de la Peste Negra en la década de 1300.
• 🤒 El origen exacto del virus de la gripe no se puede determinar con certeza, aunque se cree que pudo haber comenzado en los trincheras de la Primera Guerra Mundial, la provincia de Shanxi en China o en Camp Funston, Kansas.
• 📢 La denominación 'Gripe Española' se debe al hecho de que España, no estando en la Primera Guerra Mundial, informó abiertamente sobre las muertes por la enfermedad, a diferencia de otras naciones en conflicto.
• 🌐 La propagación de la gripe en 1918 se vio exacerbada por la movilización de soldados durante la guerra, lo que facilitó la rápida diseminación del virus.
• 🏥 La falta de conocimientos sobre los virus en la época y la limitada capacidad de los microscopios para observarlos contribuyeron a la dificultad para controlar la propagación de la gripe.
• 🏙️ En la época, la falta de tratamientos efectivos y la incapacidad para crear una vacuna o medicamentos antiviral aumentaron la mortalidad de la enfermedad.
• 🛑 Se implementaron medidas de prevención como el cierre de escuelas, iglesias y otros espacios públicos, y en algunas ciudades se multó a las personas que no llevaban mascarillas.
• 💊 La pandemia de la Gripe Española fue un factor clave que impulsó el desarrollo de la vacuna contra la gripe, aunque la primera vacuna no se desarrolló hasta 1938.
• 📉 La mortalidad causada por la Gripe Española tuvo un impacto dramático en la esperanza de vida, reduciéndola en 12 años en los EE. UU. y matando más estadounidenses que los soldados que murieron en la Primera Guerra Mundial.

Outlines

00:00

🤒 La Pandemia de la Gripe Española de 1918

En 2017, más del 37% de los adultos en EE. UU. se vacunaron contra la gripe, pero en 1918, antes de la existencia de una vacuna, al menos 50 millones de personas murieron en todo el mundo debido a la Gripe Española, la segunda plaga más mortal de la historia. Aunque no se sabe con certeza su origen, se cree que pudo haber comenzado en los trincheras de la Primera Guerra Mundial o en China. La falta de informes precisos durante la guerra y la falta de tratamientos adecuados contribuyeron a la magnitud de la pandemia. La gripe de 1918 fue particularmente letal, con síntomas severos y una tasa de mortalidad alta. La falta de conocimientos sobre los virus y la limitación de los microscopios de la época dificultaron el entendimiento y el control de la enfermedad.

05:03

💉 El Desarrollo de la Vacuna contra la Gripe

La crisis de la Gripe Española impulsó el desarrollo de una vacuna. Aunque los científicos no pudieron aislar el virus de la influenza para su estudio hasta 1933, la primera vacuna fue desarrollada en 1938 y luego administrada a soldados estadounidenses durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Después de la guerra, se utilizó para tratar al público estadounidense. La gripe de 1918 tuvo un impacto devastador, con más de 675,000 muertes en EE. UU., una cifra superior a las bajas de soldados en la Primera Guerra Mundial y a todas las muertes de soldados estadounidenses en el siglo XX. En octubre de 1918, 195,000 estadounidenses murieron, lo que lo convirtió en el mes más mortal en la historia de EE. UU., y la expectativa de vida en el país disminuyó en 12 años.

Highlights

In 2017, over 37% of U.S. adults received a flu shot, yet 80,000 died from the virus.

In 1918, the Spanish Flu killed at least 50 million people worldwide, making it the second deadliest plague in history.

The origin of the Spanish Flu is uncertain, with possible origins in World War I trenches, China, or the U.S.

The Spanish Flu was not named for its origin but because Spain was one of the few countries openly reporting cases during WWI.

The Spanish Flu had a unique symptom of dark spots appearing on the body and patients turning blue due to lack of oxygen.

At Camp Funston in 1918, over 1,000 soldiers were affected, and 47 died from the flu.

Soldiers from Kansas, who were in contact with each other, were sent overseas spreading the flu during WWI.

A second wave of the flu in the fall of 1918 hit both military and civilian centers in the U.S.

Doctors at the time had limited knowledge of viruses due to the insufficient power of microscopes.

There were conspiracy theories that Germans were spreading poison or that Bayer had infected aspirin.

Public health officials, like Philadelphia's Wilmer Krusen, downplayed the severity of the flu.

Prevention efforts included quarantine, personal hygiene, and closing public spaces like schools and churches.

In San Francisco, people not wearing masks were fined $5 and labeled 'mask slackers'.

The Spanish Flu killed more Americans in one year than all American soldiers in WWI and the 20th century combined.

In October 1918, 195,000 Americans died from the flu, making it the deadliest month in U.S. history.

Life expectancy in the U.S. dropped by 12 years due to the war and flu.

The Spanish Flu outbreak led to the development of the first flu vaccine, which was used in WWII.

Transcripts

NARRATOR: In 2017, more than 37% of adults in the U.S.

got a flu shot.

Roughly 80,000 died from the virus in the US.

But in 1918, there was no flu shot,

and at least 50 million people died around the world.

That flu was known as the Spanish Flu,

and it is the second deadliest plague in history,

after, well, "the" Plague in the 1300s.

So how exactly did a flu virus cause

such massive death and destruction across the world?

Well it helps to pinpoint where it started, except we

can't, not with 100% certainty.

It could have been the disease stricken trenches of World War

I. Or maybe the Shanxi Province of China, where

the outbreak of a respiratory disease in 1917

may have actually been the flu virus.

Or maybe even Camp Funston, a military base in Kansas

where 48 soldiers died of flu-like symptoms

right before an outbreak.

What we do know for sure is that the Spanish

Flu didn't start in Spain.

So then why is it called the Spanish Flu?

Well, the flu broke out during World War I. Neither the allied

nor central powers wanted to admit to additional loss

of life during a conflict that hinged on who had more

manpower, so all the nations involved in the war

limited reports of the outbreak.

In the US, some people were even afraid that reporting the flu

might violate the "Sedition Act of 1918,"

a law that prohibited disloyal language

about the government and any action

against the prosecution of the war.

But Spain wasn't in World War I. And since they

had no reason to hide anything, they reported

their flu-related deaths.

Even the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII got the disease,

but ultimately survived.

So with the spotlight on Spain, US and European news outlets

nicknamed it the Spanish Flu.

But the flu was spreading well outside of Spain.

And with a large scale of infections going unreported,

no one was prepared for the deadly pandemic

it would become.

Today, we know the flu is a highly contagious

viral infection that spreads to the nose, throat,

and sometimes the lungs.

Symptoms, such as fever, nausea, aches, and a sore throat,

are all standard.

It's a terrible possibly fatal disease that confines

the afflicted to bed for days.

But the 1918 Flu was worse.

Dark spots would appear on the body

before the skin turned blue from a lack of oxygen

in their blood.

And patients would bleed from their noses and ears,

as they suffocated on their own blood and fluids.

In 1918, at Camp Funston, US army doctor Roy Grist

remarked, "It is only a matter of a few hours

then until death comes, and it is simply a struggle for air

until they suffocate.

It is horrible."

The outbreak at Camp Funston affected more than 1,000

soldiers and killed 47.

But those 1,000 were part of 1 million

soldiers throughout Kansas who were all

in contact with one another.

Those soldiers were then sent overseas in the spring of 1918,

carrying flu microbes that would spread faster than the war

itself.

In the fall of that same year, a second wave of flu cases

started spreading across the US, hitting both

military and civilian centers.

Doctors had never before seen such a deadly strain

of influenza.

To make matters worse, knowledge of viruses at the time

was limited, since microscopes of the day

were not powerful enough to see them.

People began blaming the Germans,

claiming they were spreading poison clouds

or that Bayer, which was a German owned company,

had infected their aspirin.

As the flu spread in America, even public health officials

began to lie about the state of things,

like Philadelphia's public health director Wilmer Krusen,

who, in September of 1918, declared, "no concern whatever

is felt," after a Navy ship from Boston

arrived with infected passengers.

The next day, two sailors died.

The day after that, 14.

There was little to be done to stop the spread of the virus.

Doctors had no way to create a vaccine, antiviral drugs,

or even antibiotics for secondary infections,

like pneumonia.

Instead, most prevention efforts focused

on quarantine and personal hygiene.

Schools, churches, and other public gathering spaces

were shut down in many cities.

In San Francisco, they went so far as

to fine people $5 who didn't wear protective masks,

dubbing them "mask slackers."

And in the end, after only one year,

the death toll was catastrophic.

To put things in perspective, more than 16 million people

died in World War I. The Spanish Flu killed

at least 50 million people.

And some believe the number may be closer to 100 million.

In the US alone, 675,000 people will die from the flu.

That's more American deaths than American soldiers

who died in World War I. It's more

than all the deaths of American soldiers

in the 20th century combined.

And in October of 1918, 195,000 Americans

died, making it the deadliest month in US history.

Death was so prevalent between the war and flu

that life expectancy in the US dropped by 12 years.

Even Woodrow Wilson was affected by the Spanish Flu,

having collapsed during the Versaille Peace Conference

with flu-like symptoms.

The outbreak of Spanish Flu is what spurred the development

of a vaccine, although scientists didn't even

isolate the influenza virus for study

until 1933, 15 years later.

The first flu vaccine was developed in 1938

and was later given to US soldiers in World War II.

After the war, it was finally used

to treat the American public.

[music playing]