The 1918 Flu Pandemic
I
have just finished reading Flu, the Story
of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That
Caused It, by Gina Kolota. It is written as a fascinating mystery story
depicting the years and the scientific work it took to identify the “murderer.”
This
virus killed an estimated 20- to 100-million people worldwide, and 500,000 in
the United States alone. It was especially devastating to the young adult age
group, with most of the deaths occurring in people ages 20 to 40 years. It is
pertinent to my own personal history because in 1918 my father was 20, and my
mother 22, and neither of them took sick.
In fact Mother helped to take care of some of the stricken, but she
remained healthy. I have always thought this reflected that they possess a very
strong, healthy immune system. An immune system which I must have genetically
inherited, because I have rarely if ever had influenza.
This
book, though, brings up the possibility that those who did not develop the flu
in 1918 might have been exposed earlier to a similar but weaker strain. This
would have caused their bodies to produce antibodies which then protected them
against the 1918 virus. Anyway I’m awfully glad they survived the 1918 Flu Pandemic,
or I wouldn’t be here.
