The Influenza Ward of the U.S. Army Camp Hospital in France, circa 1918 (Source: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology)
The "Spanish" flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919 caused the deaths of 20-50 million people worldwide including up to 675,000 in the U.S. While only about 1% of those infected with the virus died, it became one of the deadliest viruses ever known to man. The 1918 flu has been described as capable of sickening and killing a person on the same day. The virus is an H1N1 type A influenza. Symptoms of infection were similar to, but more severe than typical, seasonal flu. Viral pneumonia leading to acute respiratory distress was the primary cause of death. Recently, the virus was reconstituted from frozen tissue samples from a woman who died from the virus.
History: Unlike seasonal flu, where most deaths are seen in the elderly and children under 2-years-old, almost half of the deaths associated with the 1918 pandemic were in adults between 20 and 40-years-old. Scientists theorize that this could be because people over the age of 40 had previously been exposed to a similar flu that gave them some immunity. As the 1918 flu spread through the United States, public gatherings were reduced to prevent infections since doctors had no way to fight the infections.
However, the virus was able to cross the ocean with troops arriving to fight in Europe during World War I. Foreign troops soon became exposed to the virus and carried it back to their home countries starting new waves of infection.
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