In 1918 Flu Pandemic, Timing Was a Killer

Since 1918, four new global flu pandemics have struck. None have come anywhere close to 1918’s toll, leaving scientists to puzzle about why 1918 was so deadly. Adding to the mystery was that people in their late 20s were at greatest risk of dying in 1918. Typically, children and old people are more likely to die in flu outbreaks. The reason why people in their late 20's suffered from the pandemic more severely is because the outbreak of the flu in affected younger people ( in their early 20's or teen years) before hand and an outbreak in the early or mid 1800's affected the older generation, therefore, the middle (late 20's) generation did not experience the flu yet and did not have a great chance at surviving. Their immune systems weren't as strong. In other words, the people in their late 20s were the victims of timing. When they grew up, they didn’t have strong defenses against the 1918 flu. Other factors made the pandemic even worse for those young adults. Vulnerable soldiers were packed in battlefield trenches or aboard troop transport ships. The virus could spread easily from one host to another. And in 1918, doctors could do little to treat the flu. They had no vaccines, no antiviral drugs and no antibiotics to stop the bacterial pneumonia that often came with bad cases of the flu.

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/science/in-1918-flu-pandemic-timing-was-a-killer.html?ref=science