A flu claimed 100 million lives: the greatest catastrophe of mankind that changed the fate of the world

The Dance of Death in 1918: A Silent Catastrophe

Have you ever thought that an epidemic caused by a tiny virus could change the fate of the entire world? In 1918, a seemingly mundane flu suddenly rose and swept the world, taking the lives of nearly 100 million people. Its name, the Spanish flu, became one of the most terrifying infectious diseases in history. What kind of horror does this seemingly simple disease bring? Today's story starts here.

The silent arrival of the virus

In March 1918, the smoke of the First World War had just dissipated, and the joy of victory had brought people all over the world into the peace that was about to come. However, no one knew that under this festive sky, a huge catastrophe was quietly brewing.

A strange illness breaks out at the Finston boot camp in Kansas, USA, which serves as a training center for the U.S. military. A soldier named Albert Gitchel complained to the nurse about a headache, a sore throat and sore muscles. No one noticed that this was only the beginning of what was about to lead to a worldwide catastrophe.

Gitchel's symptoms are just the beginning. As the head cook in the barracks, Gitchel's illness quickly spread throughout the camp, and the virus spread rapidly through the air and mutated. In less than three weeks, about 1,100 of the 3,000 soldiers in the entire camp fell ill and 38 of them died. The mortality rate is as high as 3.5%.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The virus contracted by Gitchel is spreading around the world at an incredible speed, rapidly crossing the Atlantic and reaching the front lines of the French battlefield.

Death's Journey: The Front Lines Erupt

In the spring of 1918, American soldiers carrying the virus arrived in the French port of Brest by ship across the Atlantic. The British and French soldiers, who were tired of the war, finally ushered in a new batch of "reinforcements". However, the arrival of these reinforcements brought not only hope, but also death.

On the front lines, the virus spread rapidly, and soldiers of the British and French armies had to face not only artillery fire on the battlefield, but also the invisible virus. The flu swept through quickly, patients groaned in pain in the relief station, and many died of the virus before they could even wait for the doctors to arrive. The infected person's lungs were destroyed by the virus and they developed symptoms of severe coughing, vomiting blood, and difficulty breathing.

At that time, no one could have predicted that in just 40 days, the virus would have spread to 20 million people and claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people. Moreover, the virus did not stop, it continued to mutate, infecting more and more soldiers, and even becoming more deadly.

The untold spread

The United Kingdom, France, Germany and other countries have also broken out one after another. While military systems in various countries have begun to take notice of the disease, the spread of the epidemic is too fast to be stopped. Cases have already emerged in 30 of the 50 largest cities in the United States, and in just a few months, almost all European countries are mired in them.

The scariest thing is that the Spanish flu does not choose a population. Not only did it attack soldiers, but it also spread rapidly among the population, especially in densely populated parts of cities. Despite the lockdowns and quarantine measures adopted by various countries, the epidemic has not been effectively controlled.

However, the spread of this virus, in addition to bringing great death and panic to the world, also indirectly accelerated the end of the First World War. Because with mass infections, the combat effectiveness of Europe, especially Germany, has dropped sharply. By the autumn of 1918, the battlefields in Europe had been almost destroyed by the virus, and most of the soldiers could no longer fight.

The True Face of the Virus: Who Are the Biggest Victims?

Shockingly, the Spanish flu is not like the traditional flu, and the main threat is the elderly and children. On the contrary, its lethality is almost entirely concentrated in young adults. According to medical research, the highest mortality rate for the Spanish flu is young adults between the ages of 20 and 40.

Scientists have put forward two hypotheses about this: one is that older people have developed immunity and are better able to fight off the virus because they have experienced the flu in the past. The other believes that because the immune system is more active in young adults, the immune system will overreact in the face of the virus, leading to the occurrence of cytokine storms, and eventually causing serious damage to the lungs and other organs, or even death.

This situation has created a strange phenomenon - those who should have recovered more easily have instead become the biggest victims of the virus.

Mutation Again: A second wave of more ferocious attacks

In the summer of 1919, the Spanish flu seemed to recede. People finally breathed a sigh of relief and thought that the catastrophe was over. However, the virus is not gone, it is only ready to make a comeback in a more terrifying way.

Entering September, the Spanish flu mutated violently, and the virus became more lethal than ever. At that time, many healthy adults contracted the virus in the morning and died in the evening due to lack of oxygen, and their lips and ears turned blue.

Even more frighteningly, hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of patients are flocking to them, but they are so overcrowded that even gymnasiums have been requisitioned to house patients. There is a shortage of medical staff, and many medical students have to work as doctors and nurses on a temporary basis, but even so, hospitals are unable to accept all patients.

Death is getting closer, and the virus is spreading faster. Eventually, a second wave of the Spanish flu broke out, infecting 28% of the U.S. population. Many healthy young people die of the flu within a few days.

"Resurrection" after silence

After two years of torment, the Spanish flu finally subsided in March 1920. The global death toll is close to 100 million, and the survivors are not in real peace. As the virus survived and mutated in the herd, the descendants of the Spanish flu broke out again in 2009 in the form of swine flu, and although it spread more slowly, the virulence of this generation has diminished considerably.

Today, the Spanish flu is no longer as deadly as it once was, but its viral genes are still present and constantly fusing with other viral genes. To this day, we still fight against the influenza virus every year, and the rate of mutation of the flu virus has far exceeded human imagination.

Conclusion: The Evolution and Survival of Viruses

The story of the Spanish flu is perhaps the most typical example of the evolution of the virus. As the virus mutates, its virulence gradually decreases, while its ability to survive increases. This also reveals the cold truth that the ultimate goal of the virus is not to disappear itself, but to find a balance to be able to continue to spread from host to host.

Looking back at this historical catastrophe, 100 years later, we are still battling various influenza viruses. The virus has not completely disappeared, they are still lurking around us, ready to provoke another catastrophe. As history has proven, the evolution of viruses will never stop, and we humans can only find hope for survival in the challenges of viruses again and again.