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Spanish Influenza

Spanish flu, one of the greatest killers in recorded history, didn’t really originate in Spain. It likely began in American training camps in the spring of 1918, but it was all over Europe as that year progressed. None of the countries involved in the war wanted to acknowledge that there was a deadly strain of the flu ripping through their armies, though, and forbade their press to report on it. Spain was neutral, and its press was allowed to report on the crisis. That made it seem as though the flu was primarily in Spain—thus, Spanish flu. It was caused by a deadly strain of the H1N1 flu virus, a direct ancestor to the H1N1 swine flu that concerns officials today.

The first wave of the flu did not seem to be a serious problem. But in August, it became very contagious and began to turn deadly, particularly in Boston and in Brest, the French port where American troops disembarked. A person who contracted the flu would quickly get pneumonia and, Hospital during Spanish Influenza As Spanish flu spread around the country and around the world, hospitals like this one sought to contain the pandemic.essentially, choke on built-up fluid in the lungs. According to the website, www.pandemicflu.gov, a Boston doctor described the flu this way in September 1918:

“This epidemic started about four weeks ago, and has developed so rapidly that the camp is demoralized and all ordinary work is held up till it has passed. … These men start with what appears to be an ordinary attack of … influenza and when brought to the Hospital they very rapidly develop the most viscous type of Pneumonia that has ever been seen.

“Two hours after admission they have the Mahogany spots over the cheek bones, and a few hours later you can begin to see the Cyanosis extending from their ears and spreading all over the face, until it is hard to distinguish the colored men from the white.

“It is only a matter of a few hours then until death comes, and it is simply a struggle for air until they suffocate. It is horrible. One can stand it to see one, two or twenty men die, but to see these poor devils dropping like flies sort of gets on your nerves. We have been averaging about 100 deaths per day, and still keeping it up.”

A third wave of Spanish flu would strike in 1919, after the war. In all, about 62,000 American soldiers died from influenza, compared to 50,000 war casualties. Estimates of the worldwide death toll from the flu vary, but they range from 20-100 million people, making it the deadliest pandemic since the Black Plague of the Middle Ages.

Sean Deveney

Sean Deveney currently reports for The Sporting News. He covers Major League Baseball and professional basketball for the Sporting News. The Original Curse is Sean's first published book. Sean grew up outside Boston, MA and currently lives in Chicago, IL.

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