Technology Used in Spanish Flu of 1918

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and explore Spanish flu in a holistic manner. The core objective of this paper is to address one of the most crucial concerns in the medical history (Spanish flu) that caused severe mortality and morbidity during 1918. This paper will discuss the effects of Spanish flu along with its spreading; nonetheless, the paper will also confer H5N1 strain. However, the core purpose of this paper is to address the technology used in 1918 in order to cure Spanish flu and the recent attempts to prohibit its re-spreading.

Table of Contents

Introduction4

Discussion4

Technology Used to Cure Spanish Flu in 19185

H5N1 Strain6

Conclusion7

References8

Technology Used in Spanish Flu of 1918

Introduction

In 1918, the emergence of the H1N1 influenza virus sparked a massive virgin soil epidemic which claimed millions of lives. The disease was dubbed the Spanish flu, not because it arose in Spain, but because it struck during World War I, and Spain was a neutral country with no media censorship to keep news of its health problems from reaching the rest of the world. The pandemic spread around the globe in three waves. The first arose in the spring of 1918, possibly from a U.S. military camp in Kansas. This wave was relatively minor and caused only limited concern, but it was followed by a much more severe and wide-reaching pandemic wave in the fall and winter of 1918-1919. It is this wave that is most often associated with the 1918-1919 Spanish flu and that was responsible for most of the mortality. This main pandemic wave was then followed by a third, less severe and more limited wave in the winter of 1919.

Discussion

When travel and contact rates are sufficient, these epidemics can quickly balloon into a worldwide pandemic, such as the 1918-1919 Spanish flu. Two mechanisms can generate new human influenza viruses: antigenic drift and antigenic shift. Antigenic drift refers to the accumulation of minor mutations which frequently occur in the surface proteins of an existing strain of influenza (Davis, 2005, 27-30). This process leads to continual changes in the structure of a virus's HA and NA surface proteins, which allows the virus to evade immune detection and to cause infection year after year. Although antigenic drift may mean that Spanish flu vaccine needs to be created each year, it does not lead to the production of pandemic viruses.

An antigenic shift is a major genetic change in the structure of an influenza virus's HA and/or NA surface proteins. Antigenic shifts occur more rarely than antigenic drift, but are much more dangerous. Antigenic shifts can occur when an avian or swine flu virus gains the ability to infect humans and to be transmitted from person-to-person or when different influenza viruses exchange genetic material in a process known as gene re-assortment (Collier, 1974, 109-116). Either method can produce a completely novel human influenza virus and trigger a pandemic.

Technology Used to Cure Spanish Flu in 1918

Three influenza pandemics have occurred during the past century, each of which ...