1918-1919. An epidemic of Spanish Flu spread around the world. At least 20 million died, although some estimates put the final toll at 50 million. It`s estimated that between 20 per cent and 40 per cent of the entire world`s population became sick
I recently ran across a Smithsonian blog created in 2017 for a special report “The Next Pandemic”. It’s an interesting lookback to “How the 1918 Flu Pandemic Revolutionized Public Health“. Points brought up included realizing that disease does not respect borders, so WHO was created; and creating disease reporting systems. The impact of 2% of the planet dying to disease left holes, and passions to make sure those holes did not reoccur for future generations.
COVID has killed about 1%, although the hidden damage left behind from COVID likely is claiming a lot of people before their time, but not officially from COVID.
How will COVID change society? Studying the 1918 Flu Pandemic and it’s society impact can help indicate changes we might see in psychology, medical fields, political, and sociological. Besides, the Smithsonian Magazine is always a cool blog to follow.
Spinney, Laura. “How the 1918 Flu Pandemic Revolutionized Public Health.” Smithsonian Magazine. 9/27/2017 – https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-1918-flu-pandemic-revolutionized-public-health-180965025/ – last viewed 1/2/2023.