The Spanish Flu

[Tanooki Suit]

I had a little bird,
Its name was Enza.
I opened the window,
And in-flu-enza.

The Influence Pandemic of 1918 and 1919 killed more people in one year than the Bubonic Plague killed in four, however in most K-12 schools you only hear about the Bubonic Plague (or Black Death) and not the Spanish Flu. Reasons for this are unknown, for the Spanish Flu killed approximately twenty to forty million people (and perhaps even more) during its reign of terror. So why don't we learn about this? I was personally shocked to read this article about it, I had never dreamed that something like this was going on during the closing of World War I. The war machines also helped greatly to spread this vicious disease, with ports shipping war supplies everywhere, soldiers congregating in huge masses bringing the strain with them, and so forth. It is actually estimated that half of the American deaths in WWI were due to the Spanish Flu, and it killed roughly 675,000 Americans at home during the year of 1918. The name "Spanish Flu" comes from the early outbreak of infection and devastation caused in Spain (an estimated eight million deaths). Causes of the especially virulent strain are still not known completely, but it is thought that there was a slight and very rare genetic shift in the flu virus's genetic makeup in China that quickly spread because of a loss of herd immunity to the newly shifted virus.

Links:
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic (http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/)
Spanish Flu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Flu)

[venus/bacchus]

Wow, I never knew it was so widespread.

Chances are it isn't covered in school as often because it isn't as storybook. With the Bubonic Plague, you had these overcrowded streets with unsanitary conditions. The plight of the urbanite was basically summarized into one horrible plague. The Spanish flu isn't as neat and tidy. There are no known origins, no real demographic that was affected the most, not extravagant about it.

It follows the same logic as why is the Holocaust covered so much in school, but Stalin's mass murders are barely mentioned?

[Tanooki Suit]

I had a little bird,
Its name was Enza.
I opened the window,
And in-flu-enza.

The more I think about it, the funnier that gets. Is "funnier" even a word?
According to www.dictionary.com , "funnier" is a word.

[aminorthreat55]

According to www.dictionary.com , "funnier" is a word.

Eh, internet dictionaries don't really count. For example, technically, "irregardless" isn't a word because it means the exact same thing as "regardless", but it is in online dictionaries anyways. And online dictionaries will use popular terms that aren't necessarily words, but whatever.

[mondeoman]

Wow, I never knew it was so widespread.

Chances are it isn't covered in school as often because it isn't as storybook. With the Bubonic Plague, you had these overcrowded streets with unsanitary conditions. The plight of the urbanite was basically summarized into one horrible plague. The Spanish flu isn't as neat and tidy. There are no known origins, no real demographic that was affected the most, not extravagant about it.

It follows the same logic as why is the Holocaust covered so much in school, but Stalin's mass murders are barely mentioned?
Very true. This is quite interesting.

[richter915]

Wow, I never knew it was so widespread.

Chances are it isn't covered in school as often because it isn't as storybook. With the Bubonic Plague, you had these overcrowded streets with unsanitary conditions. The plight of the urbanite was basically summarized into one horrible plague. The Spanish flu isn't as neat and tidy. There are no known origins, no real demographic that was affected the most, not extravagant about it.

It follows the same logic as why is the Holocaust covered so much in school, but Stalin's mass murders are barely mentioned?
with being how I am...I'm gonna make everything really racist so here we go...

along with your reason, I'm gonna add that the bubonic plague is often blamed on rats who came from the middle east and or china...therefore...it's their fault...not the europeans. You can't really blame an animal for disease...kinda why we don't criticize AIDS so much.

and with Stalin...I totally agree...and in the words of my "genius" brother..."winners don't write the history books, Jews do." ya that's a bit far but I mean...There may not always be Jewish people at the top but Jews definitely have more of an influence than certain racial groups.

this is the shit people are too afraid to talk about cause we wanna treat all Jewish people nice after the holocaust. Meh...I'm Muslim...go figure.

[venus/bacchus]

with being how I am...I'm gonna make everything really racist so here we go...

along with your reason, I'm gonna add that the bubonic plague is often blamed on rats who came from the middle east and or china...therefore...it's their fault...not the europeans. You can't really blame an animal for disease...kinda why we don't criticize AIDS so much.

and with Stalin...I totally agree...and in the words of my "genius" brother..."winners don't write the history books, Jews do." ya that's a bit far but I mean...There may not always be Jewish people at the top but Jews definitely have more of an influence than certain racial groups.

this is the shit people are too afraid to talk about cause we wanna treat all Jewish people nice after the holocaust. Meh...I'm Muslim...go figure.
I didn't realize that the Plague was believed to have come from the East. I'll agree that if that is the case, it's quite possible that that's a reason it's covered more often (or at least gained more popularity). I'm not so sure I entirely agree with what you said about AIDS though. It may not be criticized in Africa or other places where it is more widespread, but in America when a disease is entirely preventable, people are going to look derogatorily onto anyone who acquires the disease, especially because the "act" of "acquiring" is most likely disapproved by society.

And I'll also agree about the Jews, but they do feel their share of backlash for "controlling everything." It's not like they're treated that much differently.

[_astheruinfalls]

I remember one day I was talking about how a lot of Jewish people owned the media and they influenced a lot of the school system, and a Jewish girl was right next to me. She then yelled at me and talked for a while about how her family is in debt and stuff. I thought it was kind of funny because she acts like it's something new. I mean, my family is like...60,000 in debt, but it's something that happens.

[richter915]

I remember one day I was talking about how a lot of Jewish people owned the media and they influenced a lot of the school system, and a Jewish girl was right next to me. She then yelled at me and talked for a while about how her family is in debt and stuff. I thought it was kind of funny because she acts like it's something new. I mean, my family is like...60,000 in debt, but it's something that happens.
hah...she's nothing man...I live on Long Island in NY and there's a term here I just found out about called JAP...not an asian person...stands for Jewish American Princess (like Jamie Fleicher...that fucktard). I dunno, I know they got a lot of hate and all throughout history but does that mean they deserve better treatment? They were forced into slavery by the Egyptians because they were overpowered...but so were Africans and more times than not...I hear how Black people should just "get over it". I hate how people just think like...after the emancipation proclamation all Black Americans were taking golden showers..err..I mean...really well off. After the reconstruction era (bout 30 years after the civil war) they were worse off. But all you here is people complaining about how Black's don't embrace the resources they're given and it's their own fault. Yes I understand many things ARE indeed part of their own flaws but in a white dominated society, it's harder to get shit done when you have a different skin color.

but ya, my whole point is...there have been mass genocides all throughout history...and human rights violations left and right even today...but you almost never hear about it anywhere. Do I believe that it's because Jews have a large influence on mainstream media and are powerful lobbyists...yes, I do...but there's more too it.

[Alan Rupp]

This is scary to read about with bird flu right around the corner.

[noodledancer]

the flu developing into severe respiratory problems & death doesn't make as good a story as morbidly swollen lymph nodes & necrotic tissue damage. besides, you can't look at the raw numbers of deaths to compare the two events. you have to look at mortality rates, since i'm pretty sure there were a lot more potential victims around in 1918 than in 1347. global mortality from the flu pandemic was 2-5%, compared to 30-50% during the black death in europe alone.

yersinia pestis > influenza a

[richter915]

This is scary to read about with bird flu right around the corner.
it's infiltrating the US...we will never learn our lesson until tragedy strikes.