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comparison with 1918 flu

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mumwon · 11/09/2020 18:05

I have been thinking about how weak the comparison to 1918 flu epidemic to Corona
Several things at that time made the high death rate more likely & many have not been discussed. The first is that we have better relief with oxygen support which was not available at that time. The next si the wide & sophisticated medication that we now have & external support for other organs ie kidneys. Diabetics now have insulin & asthmatics a wide variety of medication to alleviate breathing issues, which is not to say they are at greater risk. TB was rampant & tended to affect younger people & the poor & sailors (read HMS Ulysses - it discusses this in the WW2 - still). Many people were incredibly poor & their diet reflected this, this was at time of the poor laws & if poor people had no money they had to go through enormous hoops to prove that they were worthy & forced to sell anything extra they had in the home. Housing if you were poor was appalling & workplaces were frequently dangerous to health. Apparently widows of WW1 casualties got very little money to support themselves & their families & the stats for widows dying (not necessarily from flu but other health issues too) was high. Many soldiers were either seriously injured or gassed which affected their lungs & general health. Boats carried soldiers back from the war were crowded & slow & as we know from Covid they carried & spread the virus within the boats & to family & hospitals at home.
So when people say -it nothing compared to what happened in the flu epidemic in 1918...

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