Death Toll from Pandemic FluDeath Toll from Pandemic Flu

1918-19U.S. 675,000

Worldwide 50,000,000+

1957-58U.S. 70,000

Worldwide 1-2,000,000

1968-69U.S. 34,000

Worldwide 700,000+

www.pandemicflu.gov

Influenza Deaths in KansasOctober 1918

Influenza Deaths in KansasOctober 1918

•Massive increase in deaths due to influenza•Similar spikes were repeated all over the country

- Deaths from all causes

- Deaths from influenza

Jeffery K Taubenberger MD PhD

National Institute of Health

The Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-19, which caused ≈ 50 million deaths worldwide, remains an ominous warning to public health.*

What Experts Say (1)What Experts Say (1)

*1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics, Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2006

1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics

1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics

•675,000 Americans died of the flu in 1918-19•Almost half were healthy young adults•Death tolls especially high in crowded army camps•Today’s schools and campuses pose similar hazards

The 1918 pandemic killed more Americans than all combat deaths in all wars in American history since 1775.*

The 1918 pandemic killed more Americans than all combat deaths in all wars in American history since 1775.*

* Statistical Summary: America's Major Wars, Louisiana State University Libraries.

Every single city, county, and state suffered from a shortage of caskets

Crude Infectious Disease Mortality Rate in the United States from 1900 Through 1996, Armstrong, JAMA 1999

1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics

•Falling mortality from infectious diseases in 20th century

•1918 pandemic overshadowed all other infectious diseases combined

1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics

•3 waves in 18 months•Second wave most severe

Worldwide, the 1918-19 pandemic killed 50-100 million* people in 18 months.

Worldwide, the 1918-19 pandemic killed 50-100 million* people in 18 months.

In comparison, HIV/AIDS ‘only’ killed 25 million in 25 years.

In comparison, HIV/AIDS ‘only’ killed 25 million in 25 years.

* Johnson NP, Updating the accounts: global mortality of the 1918-1920 "Spanish" influenza pandemic, Bulletin of History of Medicine 2002

1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics

Japanese schoolgirls wearing masks, Tokyo 1918

All theaters closed, Seattle

1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics

Spraying the streets with disinfectants

Tent ‘hospitals’

1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics1918 - The Mother of All Pandemics

Flu Orphans, Alaska 1919

In some places, almost all adults died