Spanish Flu Research Paper

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Have you ever had the flu? If you have, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s not the most pleasant thing in the world. In nineteen eighteen there was a flu epidemic that spread worldwide, it later became known as the Spanish flu. This was a deadly virus that most did not survive. It shocked and effected many people. The Spanish Flu of nineteen eighteen was one of the worst epidemics in American history because it killed more than 20.6 million people worldwide. The Spanish Flu was a virus, it was the second deadliest influenza in history, other than the Bubonic Plague. It was estimated to have killed between twenty and fifty million people worldwide. Out of these people an estimated minimum of sixty thousand alone died in the U.S. It was said …show more content…

There was no cure or vaccine that people could take to try and stay clear of the virus. Doctors at hospitals and medical clinics had the job of making the victims as comfortable as possible. Some scientists believe that the virus originated from Asia. They also believe that birds were the original source of the Spanish Flu. Other scientists believe that the virus was in America and other countries reserved by animals. The influenza spread worldwide, by people on shipping lines and trade routes. Men in the service and women that worked at the military institutions were the first people to catch the influenza. Eighty years later, Dr. Johan Hultin decided to get to the bottom of the puzzling epidemic. He dug up the cemetery of Brevig Mission, Alaska where he believed there were multiple bodies that could have the virus frozen in them doormat because of the frigid temperatures. From this study he learned that the Spanish Flu was a type of H1N1. To this day scientists still aren’t exactly sure what the Spanish flu was and where it came from, but as the technology and medical equipment continue to develop they hope to figure out more. Scientists say that if the virus was to come back, they believe that it would be

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