The Influenza Pandemic
April 14, 2020
Video Discussion Questions During WWI, what was the role of media in encouraging or discouraging the spread of influenza? In your opinion, should this be known as the “Spanish Flu?”How did WWI encourage the spread of the virus?According to the video, how many lives are lost to the flu? Who were most likely to succumb to the disease? After watching this video, and citing three sources of reliable information, compare and contrast the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19 and the COVID-19 pandemic in either a) a Venn Diagram, or b) a short essay.
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The Influenza Epidemic
April 14, 2020
[0:00:11] Speaker 1: Welcome to the How World War One changed America podcast series, sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with host Dr. Libby O'Connell. [0:00:26] Libby O'Connell: My name is Libby O'Connell, and today our guest is Dr. Jennifer Keene, Dean of Wilkinson College, professor of history at Chapman University, and World War One expert. Jennifer, welcome. [0:00:40] Jennifer Keene: Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. [0:00:42] Libby O'Connell: Very interested to be talking with you about the flu epidemic that broke out during World War One as a matter of fact. Americans…
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Reporting on the Spanish Influenza, 1918
April 14, 2020
The Spanish Influenza (H1N1) first appeared in the United States in March 1918. There were periodic, minor outbreaks for six months, but in September a highly fatal second wave of influenza broke out across the country and lasted through January 1919. Within days of being exposed, patients became gravely ill and many died. Influenza is usually dangerous for the very young and the elderly. During this outbreak the disease was deadly for people aged twenty to forty as well. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 195,000 Americans died in October 1918 alone. In less than two years, an estimated…
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The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 and Its Effect on Modern Medicine
April 14, 2020
Influenza killed more people than those killed as a direct result of World War I, but the influenza epidemic of 1918 (referred to in the 1918 and 1919 as the “Spanish Flu”) is largely overlooked in many history courses. Spread in part by thousands of soldiers who traveled abroad while fighting in the war, the disease infected people indiscriminately, spread rapidly, and had a shockingly high mortality rate. It is estimated that between 20 million to 50 million people died worldwide as a result of contracting this strain of influenza.
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