Pandemic 1918, the deadliest flu in history

“One day, my three best friends didn’t leave their homes in the morning. I saw that none of the neighbors were around. Nobody went out shopping or chatted in the street. Everyone stayed at home. Constantly, every morning, I went home of my friends. I knocked on the door and waited for them to come out to play” – Extract from the book “Pandemic 1918”

Just over a century has passed since the Spanish flu pandemic, a real catastrophe for the human race that killed more than the Great War. Reading the testimonies of the time there are many parallels with the situation we are experiencing in these days grappling with the COVID 19 virus. Schools, theatres, shops, etc. closed. We had to go around with masks, whole families lost loved ones.

The causes of the spread of the Spanish flu strain were the movement of troops around the globe. The disease made victims in almost all countries of the world and strangely affected young people. There had already been epidemics in the past, just a few dozen years before another pandemic had spread, Russian flu.

Another parallelism with our days, fake news. At the time it was believed that the scourge had been created by the Germans and spread in the trenches.

If you are interested in the history and testimonies of the Spanish Lady, why the flu were named Spanish and other information, you just have to read Pandemic 1918: The Story of the Deadliest Influenza in History. Unfortunately, the book exists only in English, you can find it on Amazon.