In 1918-1919, as World War I was ending, somewhere between 20 to 40 million people across the world died of the flu. This pandemic impacted the U.S. through a loss of many lives, highlighted hygiene issues across the country, and prevented people from doing their jobs. There was not a vaccine to help prevent or stop it, only treatments to help the pain. Treatment for the ill was more difficult due to the lack of medical personnel, who were overseas, fighting the war. The word of the disease and methods of prevention spread slowly across the U.S., through newspapers, posters, teachers, nurses, and even boy scouts! The impact the influenza had on the U.S. was devastating. It killed many people and left so many others without a family or stable community.
This pandemic caused bodies to be left in piles on the side of the street. Workers were not being able to fulfill their jobs, leading to a stagnant society and a mass closing of businesses. Farmers were too sick to harvest crops leading to a food deficiency that was responsible for the death of people already weak from such a detrimental disease. The loss of many citizens brought down the community and caused economic trouble after the flu had passed. This disease was responsible for the lives of 675,000 Americans (from a population of 105 million) and decreased the average lifespan of each American by 10 years.
The disease had three stages. The first stage was very mild, wasn’t as well known, and didn’t take nearly as many lives as the second and third stages. People would notice symptoms and be able to recover from the first stage sickness within a few days. The second and third stages were probably mutations of the first disease, and were far worse. People would notice their symptoms (body aches, headache, sore throat, difficulty breathing) and could be dead hours later. This was because there was no vaccine or drug to help cure this harsh disease. It was so deadly because it attacked the lungs and caused pneumonia. Later, research would show that the disease was especially hard on the young and healthy, because those people had an immune system that overreacted, causing more lung and tissue damage, and preventing the person from recovering.
Doctors during this time had no idea how to fight this disease. Some “treatments” were to take warm bath, put cold packs on your head, and use Aspirin to ease the pain. This obviously did not work very well. Nurses and other health care workers often became sick themselves, either on the public transportation to get to the affected areas, or by lack of supplies like gloves and masks, which was caused by businesses not able to produce goods. Each part of the disease’s impact influenced another.
Without television, spreading the news of such a terrible epidemic was difficult. Also, the military did not want WWI enemies to know how hard the disease had hit U.S. troops, so it was downplayed in news accounts. Postal workers, teachers, and special organizations were told to inform everyone about the flu. Mail men would send out informational packets to help warn and hopefully prevent people from getting the flu. Teachers also informed their classes about safety precautions and tips to help keep children from getting it. Boy scouts and other groups were sent to put posters up around towns. In some cities, masks were handed out to prevent spreading the disease to people who did not have it. Nurses, teachers, and hospital visitors were instructed to wear the masks at all times while near infected people. Eventually, quarantine became the rule. The healthy stayed away from the sick, outside hospitals. Schools and theaters closed. Gatherings of people stopped.
The Flu Pandemic of 1918 has a very large impact on the U.S. A little over 20% of the population was sick or dying. This made everyday life difficult. Many people were out of jobs because they were too sick to work. Without workers in businesses, commerce suffered. Goods and services became unavailable to those who remained healthy, causing the healthy to lose access to things they needed to stay healthy. Many Americans lost their entire family to the horrible disease, and children became orphans. Some whole villages were wiped out. There was no way to stop it due to a lack of medical knowledge.
The flu pandemic was sometimes called the “Spanish Flu”. There are a few theories about why. Some believe the disease may have started in Spain. Others believe Spain was the hardest hit nation to have the flu pandemic. Because the war was raging as the flu started, countries like the U.S. and Britain did not want their enemies to know how bad the flu was for them, and censored their accounts of it. Spain did not censor their information, so everyone thought it was worse there.
Worldwide this disease may have caused 50 million deaths. The estimate for America was 675,000, although many cities, towns and villages weren’t able to count all the dead. The disease affected everyone, from street children, to the King of Spain and the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. We hope the disease taught us lessons about hygiene, about the spread of virus, and about how we can prevent, or react to these diseases better in the future.
Vintage posters Warning of the 1918 Flu Epidemic
Letter carrier in New York wearing mask for protection against influenza. New York City, October 16, 1918.
American Red Cross nurses tend to flu patients in temporary wards set up inside Oakland Municipal Auditorium, 1918.
