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Mar 4, 2020 · Most striking is the large, sudden decline of life expectancy in 1918, caused by an unusually deadly influenza pandemic that became known as the ‘Spanish flu’. To make sense of the fact life expectancy declined so abruptly, one has to keep in mind what it measures.
To put the devastation of the 1918–19 influenza pandemic in historical perspective, the infographic presents three bar graphs comparing death statistics of the pandemic with those of other lethal events from ancient times to the present.
The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus.
- February 1918 – April 1920
- Worldwide
- 25–50 million (generally accepted), other estimates range from 17 to 100 million
- Influenza
The death rate for 15 to 34-year-olds of influenza and pneumonia were 20 times higher in 1918 than in previous years (Taubenberger). People were struck with illness on the street and died rapid deaths. One anectode shared of 1918 was of four women playing bridge together late into the night.
The 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic appeared in Breslau (now Wrocław), Poland, in October 1918, causing high mortality. The “W-shaped” age-specific mortality pattern indicated in the graph was seen worldwide.
- Jeffery K. Taubenberger, John C. Kash, David M. Morens
- 2019
Sep 7, 2018 · Mortality estimates of the 1918 influenza pandemic vary considerably, and recent estimates have suggested that there were 50 million to 100 million deaths worldwide.
Apr 1, 2021 · Most reports during the “Spanish flu” anticipated this practice by combining influenza and pneumonia deaths together, thus recognizing that the epidemic produced more deaths than were just ...
