Spaniard is a flu pandemic. The disease swept the entire planet in the first two decades of the 20th century. Influenza at that time was already known, a similar clinical picture back in 412 BC was described by Hippocrates. By 1918, the world had already suffered several epidemics of this disease, but it wasn’t seen as terrible as the Spaniard.
The onset of the disease
It is believed that the first cases of this pandemic were observed in the winter of 1918 in the United States. The Spaniard migrated to Europe with American recruits who were mobilized for the First World War. The outbreak of the disease began in the spring and summer of 1918. His victims were both allies (Americans, French, British), as well as German troops, civilians in Europe. At a time when wartime censorship was trying to prevent the disclosure of any information about the illnesses of soldiers, peaceful Spain trumpeted a terrible disease that affected about 39% of the inhabitants of this country. This was the reason for the emergence of precisely this name of the pandemic.
Three stages of the spread of the disease
The disease "Spaniard" rolled over the world gradually, in three "waves". The first, which was observed from March to July 1918, with a high degree of exposure to the disease, there were relatively few deaths from it. During the second, from September to December, there were a maximum number of deaths. In the third wave, from February to April 1919, the mortality rate from the pandemic significantly decreased.
Number of victims
For one and a half years of "rule" of the "Spaniard" around the world every fifth inhabitant of the planet suffered an ailment. According to various sources, 2 to 5% of the world's population died. In the USA, the Spaniard disease caused more than half a million deaths, in France - about 400,000, in England - about 200,000. In the countries of the East (Japan and China) - from 200 to 300 thousand each. Some tribes in Africa died out completely from the "Spanish". The number of Eskimos from the disease decreased by 60%. According to statistics, the pandemic to a lesser extent swept Russia. Perhaps the data are not accurate enough due to incorrect accounting due to the civil war taking place at that time. The level of the development of the disease in Russia began to decrease in May 1919, and by the summer there were practically no cases of infection.
Symptomatology
"Spaniard" - a disease, a photo of the causative agent of which is shown in the article. There were no effective therapeutic agents capable of overcoming these pathogens at that time. Those infected with the Spaniard suffered greatly from its symptoms. The first signs of flu in patients were manifested in the form of headaches, fever, fatigue. In this state, people still assumed that everything would work out, hoping that the symptoms were just an ordinary migraine or overwork. But when the patient's skin gradually acquired a bluish tint, there was no doubt about the diagnosis. The later stage of the “Spanish woman” was characterized by bleeding in the lungs. Sometimes it was so strong that a person choked. Most pandemic victims died a day after infection. Find out the origin of the virus then failed.