Virus kills 50 Million - The Flu Pandemic of 1918

Описание: On September 28, 1918, around 200,000 people crammed the streets of Philadelphia to watch the two mile Liberty Loan Parade, meant to raise funds for the war effort. Unfortunately, Director of Public Health, Dr. Wilmer Krusen, ignored the advice of medical professionals who urged him to cancel the parade or risk an epidemic. Krusen downplayed the danger of spreading the disease, knowing that the parade would raise millions of dollars in war bonds. Within a week, every bed in Philadelphia’s 31 hospitals was filled with 45,000 citizens afflicted with influenza.


In a prime example of what to do during a looming pandemic. St. Louis decided to cancel their parade.

By October 1918, more than 12,000 people in Philadelphia died from pandemic flu, while the death toll in Saint Louis did not rise above 700.

Doctors around the world had no idea what was causing the flu. But this didn’t stop scientists and doctors from doing something, anything, to combat the pandemic. Enemas. Mercury. Tree bark. Dry Champagne. Bloodletting. These were some of the medical interventions doctors used during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.


It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus between 1918 and 1919.

Ultimately, the death toll was estimated to be between 50 and 100 million people worldwide.


This is part of our 1918 Spanish Flu series.

In the third video, Virus Hunters look to re-discovery the 1918 Spanish Flu:
   • Spanish Flu Virus Hunters  

In the second video, President Wilson gets the flu:
   • President Gets the Spanish Flu!  

In the first video of the series, Virus kills $50 Million:
   • Virus kills 50 Million - The Flu Pandemic ...  
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