The Flu and Its Effects
The numbers of deaths for Spanish Flu outnumber those of the First World War (Foley, 2011). The mortality figures, shocking as they are, do not describe the full horror of the outbreak. Usually influenza kills the older and youngest members of the population, however the 1918-19 pandemic took young men and women in the prime of life, those in their twenties and thirties. It is estimated 8-10 % of all young adults then living may have been killed by the virus (Barry, 2009).
One of the most shocking symptoms of the disease was
cyanosis. Cyanosis is caused when the lungs are unable to transfer adequate
amounts of oxygen to the bloodstream. These symptoms took hold in a matter of
hours after infection. There are reports of otherwise healthy young adults
collapsing in the street and dying shortly thereafter. Cyanosis caused the skin
to exhibit a deathly dark pallor (in parts of rural Ireland this condition
caused the flu to be labelled the ‘black flu’) (Foley, 2011). Cyanosis was
followed by inflamed sinuses, headache and coughing. One of the most shocking
symptoms was heavy bleeding from the nose and ears. Doctors at the time said
the only thing comparable was symptoms of those exposed to deadly mustard gas
employed on the front-lines in the conflict still then raging in Belgium and
France. Some indeed thought the virus was a secret weapon employed by the
German Army (Quinn, 2008).
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