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The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic, the Origins of the H1N1-virus Strain, a Glance in History

Received: 14 September 2016     Accepted: 12 October 2016     Published: 28 October 2016
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Abstract

It was the year 1918, when a new flu pandemic launched worldwide. Our study purports to depict the general icon of the 1918 pandemic epoch, for the readers to shape an overview of the events of the era. We have used some of the most important manuscripts concerning the pandemic to compose a historical note on the outbreak that almost annihilated the world. The name “Spanish Flu”, was defined wrongfully due to the scientific observation and research made in Spain, while the first appearance of the virus had been made in USA. The outbreak was devastating, causing millions to die, more than the First World War casualties. During new experiments upon the old virus strain, it was proved that the 1918 pandemic was caused by an influenza A - subtype H1N1 progenitor strain. Our mini review, enlightens some aspects of virus blast, in an effort for the readers to luxuriate in the tale, myths, and the true story of the 1918 pandemic.

Published in European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160204.11
Page(s) 23-28
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

1918, Spanish Flu, Influenza A, H1N1, Pandemic, History of Medicine

References
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[3] Aberth J. Plagues in world history. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers INC, Lanham, 2011.
[4] Duncan K. Hunting the 1918 flu: one scientist's search for a killer virus. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2003.
[5] Theodorides J. Des miasmes aux virus. Editions Louis Pariente, Paris, 1991.
[6] Patterson KD, Pyle GF. The geography and mortality of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Bull Hist Med 1991; 65(1): 4-21.
[7] Connor S. Flu epidemic traced to Great War transit camp. The Guardian (UK), Saturday, 8 January 2000.
[8] Barry JM. The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Greatest Plague in History. Viking Penguin, New York, 2004.
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[10] Shope RE. Swine Influenza III, filtration, experiments and etiology. J Exp Med. 1931; 54(3): 373-385.
[11] Greenwood M. The epidemiology of influenza. BMJ 1918; 2(3021): 563-566.
[12] Tsoucalas G, Karachaliou F, Kalogirou V, Gatos G, Mavrogiannaki E, Antoniou A, Gatos K. The first announcement about the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic in Greece through the writings of the pioneer newspaper “Thessalia” almost a century ago. Infez Med. 2015; 23(1): 79-82.
[13] Duncan K. Hunting the 1918 Flu: One Scientist's Search for a Killer Virus. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2003.
[14] Collier R. The Plague of the Spanish Lady: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919. Allison & Busby, London, 1996.
[15] Ewald PW. Evolution of Infectious Disease, Oxford University Press, New York, 1994.
[16] Robertson WF. Influenza: Its cause and prevention. Br Med J. 1918; 2(3025): 680-681.
[17] Taubenberger J, Morens D. 1918 Influenza: the mother of all pandemics. Emerg Infect Dis 2006; 12 (1): 16-22.
[18] Taubenberger JK, Kash JC. Insight on influenza pathogenesis from the grave. Virus Res 2011; 162(1-2): 2-7.
[19] Wilton P. Spanish flu outdid WWI in number of lives claimed. CMAJ. 1993; 148(11): 2036-2037.
[20] Pandemics and Pandemic Threats since 1900. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history, Accessed 8/12/2013.
[21] Simonsen L, Clarke M, Schonberger L, Arden N, Cox N, Fukuda K. Pandemic versus epidemic influenza mortality: a pattern of changing age distribution. J Infect Dis 1998; 178 (1): 53-60.
[22] G. Tsoukalas, M. Karamanou, G. Androutsos. Travelling through time with Aspirin, a healing companion. MS EJI 2011; 9: 13-17.
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[24] Reid AH, Janczewski TA, Lourens RM, Elliot AJ, Daniels RS, Berry CL, et al. 1918 influenza pandemic caused by highly conserved viruses with two receptor-binding variants. Emerg Infect Dis. 2003; 9: 1249-1253.
[25] Reid A, Fanning T, Taubenberger. Origin and evolution of the 1918 “Spanish” influenza virus hemagglutinin gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1999; 96(4): 1651-1656.
[26] Lucke B. Pathologic Anatomy and Bacteriology of Epidemic of Autumn, 1918. Arch Intern Med (Chic) 1919; 24(2): 154-237.
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  • APA Style

    Gregory Tsoucalas, Antonios Kousoulis, Markos Sgantzos. (2016). The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic, the Origins of the H1N1-virus Strain, a Glance in History. European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, 2(4), 23-28. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160204.11

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    ACS Style

    Gregory Tsoucalas; Antonios Kousoulis; Markos Sgantzos. The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic, the Origins of the H1N1-virus Strain, a Glance in History. Eur. J. Clin. Biomed. Sci. 2016, 2(4), 23-28. doi: 10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160204.11

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    AMA Style

    Gregory Tsoucalas, Antonios Kousoulis, Markos Sgantzos. The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic, the Origins of the H1N1-virus Strain, a Glance in History. Eur J Clin Biomed Sci. 2016;2(4):23-28. doi: 10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160204.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160204.11,
      author = {Gregory Tsoucalas and Antonios Kousoulis and Markos Sgantzos},
      title = {The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic, the Origins of the H1N1-virus Strain, a Glance in History},
      journal = {European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {4},
      pages = {23-28},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160204.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160204.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejcbs.20160204.11},
      abstract = {It was the year 1918, when a new flu pandemic launched worldwide. Our study purports to depict the general icon of the 1918 pandemic epoch, for the readers to shape an overview of the events of the era. We have used some of the most important manuscripts concerning the pandemic to compose a historical note on the outbreak that almost annihilated the world. The name “Spanish Flu”, was defined wrongfully due to the scientific observation and research made in Spain, while the first appearance of the virus had been made in USA. The outbreak was devastating, causing millions to die, more than the First World War casualties. During new experiments upon the old virus strain, it was proved that the 1918 pandemic was caused by an influenza A - subtype H1N1 progenitor strain. Our mini review, enlightens some aspects of virus blast, in an effort for the readers to luxuriate in the tale, myths, and the true story of the 1918 pandemic.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • History of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece

  • London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London, UK

  • History of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece

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