THE SPANISH FLU

The Spanish flu also known as the 1918 flu influenza was the second deadliest pandemic in the history of mankind first being the plague itself. It left the world with only two third of its population.

It did  not as its  name suggests started in Spain. The only reason it is called Spanish flu, is because Spain was the first country to inform the world about this flu. Before Spain, symptoms of mild flu were seen around in the USA, parts of Asia and Europe. Little did they know that this small flu was going to destroy the lives of 500 million people!

The first victims of this devil were some American soldiers who were a lift for the virus to find some more friends. The virus had got what it wanted…unfortunately these few soldiers were a part of a thousand more soldiers and these thousand soldiers were just a chunk of a million more soldiers. What made it even worse was the situation of the First World War, when American soldiers came to Europe. And no need to explain the rest, in weeks a whole continent got infected.

The creation of the vaccine was in progress. Until then precautions like- making and using mask were introduced, schools and other busy places were banned for the citizens and people were asked to quarantine. In fact in San Francisco people would be fined $5 (about $85 today) if they were not wearing masks on the streets.

According to the scientists the virus first goes for the respiratory system, which means every time an infected person speaks the saliva ends up transporting the virus from the infected person to the person who is in contact.

After 36 months of tyranny and suffering the cure was finally ready. The world was safe for next few years, but at what cost? They had lost their close ones. One-third of the population was gone, people who lived, lived a live full of depression for the next few years. Therefore these 36 months (Jan 1918-Dec 1920) will be remembered as the most tragic years forever.

Research/Compilation : Manas Vaze