fwiw, the 1889 pandemic returned in 1890 and even re-appeared as late as 1892 with subsequent waves being more deadly then the first. > The initial 1890 outbre

fwiw, the 1889 pandemic returned in 1890 and even re-appeared as late as 1892 with subsequent waves being more deadly then the first. > The initial 1890 outbreak subsided after six weeks. However, the disease returned the next year and caused nearly twice as many deaths and also reappeared in 1892. The Registrar General calculated the death toll in 1890 as 27,000, in 1891 as 58,000 and in 1892 as 25,000. > These second and third waves are worrying given that we are still in the first outbreak of Covid-19. Honigsbaum expresses caution, however. “The claim that the ‘Russian influenza’ pandemic could have been due to a coronavirus is intriguing, if speculative. Certainly, one of the pandemic’s key features was the way it attacked the nervous system, sparking remarkable cases of depression, psychosis and insomnia.” One notable victim was another prime minister, Lord Rosebery, who was laid up for six weeks in 1895 with a crippling fatigue. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/31/did-a-coronavirus-cause-the-pandemic-that-killed-queen-victorias-heir https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/31/did-a-coronavi... > There's no way to prove it now but I suspect the worldwide infection rate was quite high within a year. Worldwide, that might be hard. But for Europe, there's archival material that helps paint a picture: > Results: The spread of the pandemic was extremely rapid, with a starting point at St Petersburg (peak date = December 7. 1889). The UK and Scottish cities were hit only 6 weeks later. The mean speed of the front wave was approximately 300 Km/Week. The mean basic reproduction rate was 2.15 (range: 2.04–2.32). The mean peak value of the mortality curves was +105% above the base value (range 10%: Christiania to 221%: Brunn). The highest reproduction rates were observed at Stuttgart, St Petersburg, and Amsterdam. https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(08)00369-X/fulltext https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(08)00369-X/ful...