STORY BCH: Today I will tell you the story of THE SPANISH FLU

A few days ago I told you the story of the deadliest pandemic in history, the black plague, (very soon I will tell you about the second that was smallpox) but for now we will talk about the third on the list today: "The Spanish Flu".

If you did not read that story you can see it before continuing:

STORY BCH: Today I am going to tell you the story of the black plague (The deadliest epidemic)

It is somewhat difficult to tell the history of this disease because its origin is not very clear and I also have to put them in the context of the First World War.

This event was very important for the spread of the virus.

Above all because even though we know it as "Spanish Flu", the virus actually arose in the United States, at a US military base (Fort Riley) in Kansas.

So why do they call it the Spanish Flu?

Well, we'll get to that.

As I have already mentioned in other threads, the United States took great advantage of the circumstances in which many countries remained during the war, in fact its economy began to depend much more on war conflicts from that time on.

So the option of canceling the shipment of US troops to Europe was not a possibility.

The US president himself learned that in 14 of 16 military camps there were outbreaks of fever, but neither he nor General Peyton March canceled the dispatch of troops.

And in theory this is how the virus came to Europe, but some researchers maintain that in 1916 there were already outbreaks in France and others maintain that the virus started in 1917, where do you believe?

That's right, in China and from there it spread throughout the world.

And then the governments made a terrible mistake not to stop the economy, they lied about the number of patients.

The only country that spoke of the patients was Spain, because they were neutral, their press had no ties and they reported the progression of the disease

They called it "Three Day Fever", "French Flu" and endless names. Until a Times reporter called it "Spanish Fever," US newspapers made the name popular and even said that the disease originated in the Iberian country.

That was the first wave of the disease, in theory everything could be short-lived but nobody took things seriously, magic remedies to end the flu abounded and people gathered to pray for the end of the virus.

Health personnel invited people to wear face masks, to go out a little, not to be in public places, but the population either did not believe in the virus or ignored the indications.

Governments slowly closed schools, museums, public places, and even imposed curfews.

But people did not obey, in part because in a post war economy some could not afford to stop working because they lived day to day, and then there were those who could but took the matter lightly, mocked curfews and They ignored the recommendations.

Believe it or not, there were people who went on vacation in the midst of a pandemic, and well you can imagine how the thing ended, collapsed hospitals, deaths that numbered in the thousands and were taken to mass graves and, of course, the confinement that could last 2 or 3 weeks, lasted 4 months.

From September to December 1918 the worst of the pandemic was experienced, so much so that individual funerals were banned, the morgues were overwhelmed and the bodies were buried in mass graves. And all because nobody did what they had to do.

Especially governments.

The disinformation caused the "remedies" of the time to run out, cigarettes and aspirin. (Smoke was said to kill the virus)

Governments responded to other interests and took care of the matter either very poorly or very slowly.

One in three people in the world ended up sick.

Many wealthy businessmen abused their privileges and contacts so as not to close their businesses, although they were not essential, they said that they followed the government's instructions but sometimes they only put up a sign saying that if you had the flu, you better go home. But nothing else.

At this point no one was safe anymore, every day the news was more and more terrible, Gustav Klimt, the famous painter of the Golden Lady and The Kiss, died shortly after overcoming the flu, Kafka also confessed in a written letter in 1918 having contracted the fever.

Symptoms were fevers exceeding 39 degrees, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, nosebleeds, and everything worsened within 6 hours of the first symptoms.

If they were not contained within the next 48 hours, the patient died in terrible agony

The virus had a mortality rate of between 15% and 20%

So make numbers, 1 out of 3 people in the world got sick and of those sick, 2 out of 10 died

Although until today it is debated whether the figures that the governments gave at that time were real.

What we do know is that the Spanish flu was caused by an influenza A virus, H1N1, with genes of avian origin, and that the pandemic stopped in 1919 thanks to health policies and the virus' own genetic mutation.

As a large population was already immunized, fewer and fewer people became ill until the last case was recorded in the summer of 1920.

Since then, it became known that some influenza virus could mutate and kill people again.

It is not that we did not have time to prepare but when everything was finished and although some things changed (people stopped spitting so much on the streets and there was more hygiene), in theory everything remained the same

And indeed more outbreaks emerged (1957, 1968 and 2009) and the story was the same.

And so ended the disastrous 1918 flu pandemic, with an official number close to 50 million dead, although the unofficial numbers are estimated to be close to 100.

100 Million dead!

Few times does history give this opportunity to the leaders of a country, forget other interests, they have the perfect opportunity to change history and not repeat it, to save people, to do the right thing, to be more than a president and go to story as a hero

Note: I remind you that I have started a campaign to donate food to people in need, all the funds and tips you get from these stories will be used to buy food for people in street conditions. If you want to know more about this campaign I will leave you the link of the publication:

Along with Bitcoin Cash Changing the Life of 90 people

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