4 ms·

People died from the Spanish flu because they were malnourished and because the general conditions were bad. The Spanish flu would be nothing like that if it ha

• jnbiche 7y ago
  Famously, the disease hit soldiers in basic training hard before they were deployed. These were not malnourished people. It's entirely likely that malnourished populations suffered greatly under Spanish Flu, but it's clear that completely healthy young adults were highly vulnerable to dying from the disease.
  • stewbrew 7y ago
    Who was healthy 1918? Aristocrats and generals maybe. There was still a World War going on when it started.
• chillacy 7y ago
  That article doesn't seem to support "because they were malnourished" at all... it correctly points out that the 1918 pandemic was unique in having high mortality among the young (under 30) due to "Lack of pre-existing virus-specific and/or cross-reactive antibodies and cellular immunity in children and young adults" which doesn't seem to be the case with the current virus which seems to affect mainly the elderly.
  • stewbrew 7y ago
    It's down the list/text. But please keep in mind: this happened 1918.