6 ms·

The Spanish Flu was almost exactly 100 years ago. Recent enough that we think of it as being in modern times with relatively modern medicine and hospitals. My g

The Spanish Flu was almost exactly 100 years ago. Recent enough that we think of it as being in modern times with relatively modern medicine and hospitals. My grandmother lived through it, so this isn't the distant past. Current estimates are that it killed up to 100,000,000 million people, as many as the black plague. We have much better medicine now, thankfully. But we also live in a much more deeply connected world with millions of people flying every single day.

sib 7y ago
Great book about this (and, more broadly, the rise of medicine as a scientific endeavor): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143036491/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143036491/
- cguess 7y ago
  Seconded: I just finished this last week, really great historical piece, doesn't leave much out.
notadoc 7y ago
> We have much better medicine now, thankfully. Do we? Against a deadly and virulent flu virus causing viral pneumonia? Not really without development of a highly effective vaccine. You have better life support, but that's about it. Something like ECMO is extremely invasive and limited to maybe a few per ICU.
- refurb 7y ago
  We have anti-virals now, when back then we didn't. Not sure if they'd actually work on these strains, but it's something.
  - Haga 7y ago
    We also have extreme cases like the rabies survivor, using a introduced coma as measurement.
- Fomite 7y ago
  "Something like ECMO is extremely invasive and limited to maybe a few per ICU." Better supportive intensive care is exactly what lowers the case fatality rates for viral pneumonia. And this is very unlikely to become a hospital capacity problem.
papreclip 7y ago
imagine the impact on global warming, or real estate prices
duncanawoods 7y ago
It's curious how little cultural impact it has compared to the world wars or Black Plague despite the death-toll. I've never seen a TV series or film about it or any art, songs or phrases. There is no iconic photograph that comes to mind. It's just a minor footnote to WW1. I don't know if it's wartime censorship or just overshadowed but it's really quite odd.
- TuringNYC 7y ago
  First thing that comes to mind is the scaled impact as a % of global population. The population was so much smaller during the Black Plague that it was comparably a bigger event.
- Koshkin 7y ago
  > little cultural impact How many people are dying today from preventable causes? Have you heard songs about them?
  - triceratops 7y ago
    The Spanish Flu was, by definition, not curable since so many people died of it. There have been many films, books, and other media about other epidemics. HIV/AIDS, bubonic plague, smallpox, and polio come to mind. I think GP was pointing out how much WW1 overshadowed everything else that was going on at the time. In any other moment in history, the Spanish Flu would have been a significant occurrence.
- bsder 7y ago
  > It's curious how little cultural impact it has compared to the world wars Erm, it could be argued that the Spanish Flu is what stopped World War I. That's pretty significant.
- nwallin 7y ago
  It's 100% due to war time censorship. Unusually, it hit young able bodies people the hardest. ie, young men who were being conscripted into the war. There were huge problems with swaths of people in barracks all getting sick and messing with the deployment process. In every country involved in the war. And it absolutely couldn't be let known that anyone was having problems fielding new recruits. So the news was heavily censored. Spain was neutral, and therefore didn't have tons of people packed into barracks waiting to be deployed. As a result, they suffered the least. Relatively few Spaniards got sick. However, since they weren't at war, there was no wartime censorship, and it was covered by the Spanish press. Therefore the pandemic came to be known as the Spanish flu. Extra credits did a series on it, which is worth checking out IMHO. Six episodes, ten minutes each. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5BZ3gQleTk-PJqIejFf4Rh2 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5BZ3gQleTk-...
NetBeck 7y ago
The Spanish Flu also influenced the design of old radiator heating systems. "The Spanish influenza epidemic, which took place during the winter of 1918–19, had a dramatic effect on the way heating engineers sized radiators," explains Dan Holohan, author of several books on steam heat and founder of HeatingHelp.com. "Central heating was relatively new then and the world had never seen anything as horrible as the Spanish flu, which caused an estimated 50 million deaths. Because the flu was airborne, the Board of Health started a campaign the following year that urged (more like demanded) people to keep their windows open so fresh air could enter the rooms."[1] [1] https://www.citylab.com/life/2014/02/our-indispensible-guide-cooling-your-overheated-apartment/8281/ https://www.citylab.com/life/2014/02/our-indispensible-guide...
- dx034 7y ago
  Interesting, but I'm not sure that's still valid. At least for European apartments I've lived in, radiators were never sized so that they could've heated apartments on the coldest day with wind and windows open. In older apartments cold days with wind can already be a challenge with windows permanently closed. So I guess that fell out of favor at some point when heating costs became a bigger issue.
ASalazarMX 7y ago
> it killed up to 100,000,000 million people Jesus Christ, that's more than 100,000 Earths! No wonder people were upset. Joke aside, it was 50-100 million; the black plague was 100-200 million. Of course there was lot less people then.
- munificent 7y ago
  Oops! Decided to write out the number but forgot to delete the word. :)

sib 7y ago

Great book about this (and, more broadly, the rise of medicine as a scientific endeavor): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143036491/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143036491/

cguess 7y ago
Seconded: I just finished this last week, really great historical piece, doesn't leave much out.

notadoc 7y ago

> We have much better medicine now, thankfully. Do we? Against a deadly and virulent flu virus causing viral pneumonia? Not really without development of a highly effective vaccine. You have better life support, but that's about it. Something like ECMO is extremely invasive and limited to maybe a few per ICU.

refurb 7y ago
We have anti-virals now, when back then we didn't. Not sure if they'd actually work on these strains, but it's something.
- Haga 7y ago
  We also have extreme cases like the rabies survivor, using a introduced coma as measurement.
Fomite 7y ago
"Something like ECMO is extremely invasive and limited to maybe a few per ICU." Better supportive intensive care is exactly what lowers the case fatality rates for viral pneumonia. And this is very unlikely to become a hospital capacity problem.

papreclip 7y ago

imagine the impact on global warming, or real estate prices

duncanawoods 7y ago

It's curious how little cultural impact it has compared to the world wars or Black Plague despite the death-toll. I've never seen a TV series or film about it or any art, songs or phrases. There is no iconic photograph that comes to mind. It's just a minor footnote to WW1. I don't know if it's wartime censorship or just overshadowed but it's really quite odd.

TuringNYC 7y ago
First thing that comes to mind is the scaled impact as a % of global population. The population was so much smaller during the Black Plague that it was comparably a bigger event.
Koshkin 7y ago
> little cultural impact How many people are dying today from preventable causes? Have you heard songs about them?
- triceratops 7y ago
  The Spanish Flu was, by definition, not curable since so many people died of it. There have been many films, books, and other media about other epidemics. HIV/AIDS, bubonic plague, smallpox, and polio come to mind. I think GP was pointing out how much WW1 overshadowed everything else that was going on at the time. In any other moment in history, the Spanish Flu would have been a significant occurrence.
bsder 7y ago
> It's curious how little cultural impact it has compared to the world wars Erm, it could be argued that the Spanish Flu is what stopped World War I. That's pretty significant.
nwallin 7y ago
It's 100% due to war time censorship. Unusually, it hit young able bodies people the hardest. ie, young men who were being conscripted into the war. There were huge problems with swaths of people in barracks all getting sick and messing with the deployment process. In every country involved in the war. And it absolutely couldn't be let known that anyone was having problems fielding new recruits. So the news was heavily censored. Spain was neutral, and therefore didn't have tons of people packed into barracks waiting to be deployed. As a result, they suffered the least. Relatively few Spaniards got sick. However, since they weren't at war, there was no wartime censorship, and it was covered by the Spanish press. Therefore the pandemic came to be known as the Spanish flu. Extra credits did a series on it, which is worth checking out IMHO. Six episodes, ten minutes each. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5BZ3gQleTk-PJqIejFf4Rh2 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5BZ3gQleTk-...

NetBeck 7y ago

The Spanish Flu also influenced the design of old radiator heating systems. "The Spanish influenza epidemic, which took place during the winter of 1918–19, had a dramatic effect on the way heating engineers sized radiators," explains Dan Holohan, author of several books on steam heat and founder of HeatingHelp.com. "Central heating was relatively new then and the world had never seen anything as horrible as the Spanish flu, which caused an estimated 50 million deaths. Because the flu was airborne, the Board of Health started a campaign the following year that urged (more like demanded) people to keep their windows open so fresh air could enter the rooms."[1] [1] https://www.citylab.com/life/2014/02/our-indispensible-guide-cooling-your-overheated-apartment/8281/ https://www.citylab.com/life/2014/02/our-indispensible-guide...

dx034 7y ago
Interesting, but I'm not sure that's still valid. At least for European apartments I've lived in, radiators were never sized so that they could've heated apartments on the coldest day with wind and windows open. In older apartments cold days with wind can already be a challenge with windows permanently closed. So I guess that fell out of favor at some point when heating costs became a bigger issue.

ASalazarMX 7y ago

> it killed up to 100,000,000 million people Jesus Christ, that's more than 100,000 Earths! No wonder people were upset. Joke aside, it was 50-100 million; the black plague was 100-200 million. Of course there was lot less people then.

munificent 7y ago
Oops! Decided to write out the number but forgot to delete the word. :)