1918 Influenza Pandemic

History Repeats Itself?

The 1918 influenza pandemic continued raging through the winter and into the spring of 1919. The Spanish flu was worse than anything ever seen, before or since. Some say that history repeats itself...

January 1919 - Schools re-open in Seattle.

March 1919 - No new deaths are reported in Seattle – this is the first month without pandemic flu deaths since the influenza started in Seattle.

This is the beginning of the slowing down of the flu pandemic.

The 1918 flu pandemic was the worst loss of life to an illness in history.

As you can see, the 1918 flu pandemic lasted from March 1918 into March of 1919. In all, over 645,000 people were lost in the US alone. Between 50 and 100 million worldwide.

We have had some other pandemics in history, but none have been so tragic and catastrophic as the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Is history repeating itself? Only time will tell. But the warning signs are appearing. There are many parallels to the 1918 pandemic, including:

• the genetic makeup of the flu virus is similar – swine, bird, human

• the appearance of the new influenza in the spring - not the normal flu season

• the number of children and young adults who have been severely affected

• reports by physicians of severe lung involvement and body organs failing in their sickest patients

• reports that patients who became critically ill—often started out thinking that they had a cold, and quickly became VERY ill.

• the fast transmission of the flu virus from person to person

• the ability of the flu virus to keep changing its genetic characteristics

Make sure that your family is prepared for any emergency by stocking up on food, medicine and other essentials. And make sure that you know basic survival skills just in case we have to live for a few weeks without the convenience of utilities.

1918 Flu Epidemic, 1st Wave

Influenza 1918 - 2nd Wave

Pandemics in History

Add your pandemic pictures to Flu Pandemic History in Photos

1918 Influenza Pandemic to Spanish Flu

1918 Influenza Pandemic to Pandemic Flu and Survival Preparedness

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