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1918 Spanish Flu Versus Covid-19
It is important to be informed about the previous pandemic to better understand Covid-19 and how to cope with it.
The 1918 flu is caused by an H1N1 influenza A virus. The Spanish flu, which was active from 1918 to 1920, infected nearly 500 million people including 675,000 American citizens.
This 1918 pandemic is recognized with the name of Spanish influenza because its first public news appeared in Madrid’s ABC newspaper on 22 May 1918.
Since the Spanish Influenza was outburst in 1918, for those living today, Covid-19 is the first pandemic we have ever faced.
When we compare the two disasters, we see that both the COVID-19 and 1918 influenza pandemic similarly caused damaging impacts on the global economy and had a significant delay in its diagnosis, treatment, and vaccines.
There are some differences, as well. For example, they differed mostly in the highest risk population and the mechanism of death. The former affected less than half of the world countries and the most vulnerable groups were healthy adults (25–40 years), while COVID-19 has affected nearly all countries and the highest risk groups are adults over 65 years of age with comorbidities.
In the tables below, we can see the mortality rates of the 1918 influenza and Covid-19 pandemics:
