If anyone wants a hard copy of Adams' 187-page report, I'll gladly copy and snail mail it to you for the cost of copying (187 x .09 = $16.83 + media mail postage (typically less than $2.00).
Just send me a PM.
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The Truth is out there...somewhere.
Ruby, I'm not trying to say that it was "just another flu". Sure, there must have been a regular flu season, as thre is every year. But there must have been other things on top of it, causing all those deaths. The high number of casualties is an historic fact, and I'm not denying that. But I doubt that all those people died of just the flu. Especially because they were for a large part between the (strong and healthy) ages between 20 and 40. There must have been other factors that were covered up.
Bleeding from nose and mouth makes me think of tuberculosis or pneumonia, not the flu. My parents were around in 1918. They never got sick then. I've heard their stories, but they didn't sound as gruesome as yours. Maybe you've read too many killer flu stories that were somewhat embellished by the authors (Stephen King?) Nothing to be ashamed of; lots of people like to read horror stories. (Some time ago I even watched a B-movie named "Revenge of the killer bimbos", just to be perverse).
Anyhow, I don't want to make light of the 1918 epidemic. But I enjoy being the bringer of good news: Nothing like that will happen this year or the next. Unless your president comes up with another fine mess to get you into.
Skepzilla, I continue to be amazed by your utter denial of the gravity of the 1918 epidemic and the reports of how people died. Makes me wonder if you've read any of the narratives about it.
Quote:
The effect of the influenza epidemic was so severe that the average life span in the US was depressed by 10 years. The influenza virus had a profound virulence, with a mortality rate at 2.5% compared to the previous influenza epidemics, which were less than 0.1%. The death rate for 15 to 34-year-olds of influenza and pneumonia were 20 times higher in 1918 than in previous years (Taubenberger). People were struck with illness on the street and died rapid deaths. One anectode shared of 1918 was of four women playing bridge together late into the night. Overnight, three of the women died from influenza (Hoagg). Others told stories of people on their way to work suddenly developing the flu and dying within hours (Henig). One physician writes that patients with seemingly ordinary influenza would rapidly "develop the most viscous type of pneumonia that has ever been seen" and later when cyanosis appeared in the patients, "it is simply a struggle for air until they suffocate," (Grist, 1979). Another physician recalls that the influenza patients "died struggling to clear their airways of a blood-tinged froth that sometimes gushed from their nose and mouth," (Starr, 1976). The physicians of the time were helpless against this powerful agent of influenza.
The influenza pandemic circled the globe. Most of humanity felt the effects of this strain of the influenza virus. It spread following the path of its human carriers, along trade routes and shipping lines. Outbreaks swept through North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Brazil and the South Pacific (Taubenberger). In India the mortality rate was extremely high at around 50 deaths from influenza per 1,000 people (Brown). The Great War, with its mass movements of men in armies and aboard ships, probably aided in its rapid diffusion and attack. The origins of the deadly flu disease were unknown but widely speculated upon. Some of the allies thought of the epidemic as a biological warfare tool of the Germans. Many thought it was a result of the trench warfare, the use of mustard gases and the generated "smoke and fumes" of the war. A national campaign began using the ready rhetoric of war to fight the new enemy of microscopic proportions. A study attempted to reason why the disease had been so devastating in certain localized regions, looking at the climate, the weather and the racial composition of cities. They found humidity to be linked with more severe epidemics as it "fosters the dissemination of the bacteria," (Committee on Atmosphere and Man, 1923). Meanwhile the new sciences of the infectious agents and immunology were racing to come up with a vaccine or therapy to stop the epidemics.
40 years ago, I used to enjoy driving. I would get in the car and think little of going off for the day. However, times change. This little island has sufficient land mass to support a population of about 47 million. Now, we are hugely overcrowded at the figure of 67 million people. And they all want cars!
It is no longer enjoyable to drive off for the day. Just going one and a half miles, last week, took me 20 minutes. Imagine the wasted fuel and air pollution that caused! So, I personally, drive as little as possible, and not only due to the cost of fuel but also to the wear and tear on nerves!
In my work, I have 2 patients at the moment who want help with "road-rage" problems. It isn't reasonable to expect that a few acupuncture needles, or herbs, can overcome these awful effects of overcrowding.
I hate driving now and on my way to work
I have the stress of passing a camera 2x a day
and waiting a week to see if I got a ticket
if I went a mile over the limit
that week is a stressful wait as well.
Meanwhile I may have got another one and
have to wait for confirmation of that one.
A merrygoround of stress. Not worth it.
I used to love driving now I can't afford it
and it is just too stressful.
Methinks it is time for a new job as
the bus service to where I work is
just about non existant (and as expensive as the car)
and certainly doesnt run to my work times (no service on a sunday)
and I am not prepared to walk 20 miles a day.
Skepzilla, I continue to be amazed by your utter denial of the gravity of the 1918 epidemic and the reports of how people died.
Don't be. I did no such thing. I don't deny it was a major disaster. But my parents, who lived through it (in Europe), never made a big deal out of it, as I remember their stories. I guess they had more important problems.
What killed all those people? I think, on top of a regular flu season, there were all the disastrous trappings of a major war. A lot of chemical weapons were used. After WWI they were banned by international treaties.
But WWIII (which I already announced) will be a nuclear one. What do you think will be the effects of a mild flu epidemic against a background of radioactivity?
And, eh... <harrumph!>, about the Dutch gas prices...
I wish I could make a statement explaining the wisdom of the Dutch government, but I can't.
The main problem is that the goverment is greedy. The main part of the 8 bucks we pay for a gallon of gas consists of taxes.
How do we cope? Well, we drive small cars, and that's also a smart move when you want to park anywhere. Compared to Amsterdam, New York City is a parking paradise. On the other hand, we have very good public transportantion.
The present (conservative, almost fascist) government will be kicked out next year (We voters are sure of it). But then the socialists will be forming a new government. And they were the ones who gave us those high gas prices in the first place. They will probably increase the gas prices further by levying even higher taxes. Somehow, we can't win.
What killed all those people? I think, on top of a regular flu season, there were all the disastrous trappings of a major war.
I don't know how the pandemic fared in Europe but, yes, American soldiers did confront chemicals while they were overseas. But that doesn't explain the millions who perished who lived in rural and remote places who had scant contact with war chemicals.
Honestly, Skepzilla, have you read any of the books about the 1918 pandemic? Do you think the authors and all the people they interviewed made up what happened?
EarlyBird, if the 1918 flu pandemic--of which the threatened avian flu is a derivative--happened, why are you so sure the avian flu will not turn into a pandemic as well?
I can not say that I feel very sure that a pandemic will not happen, but I do note that, since the first Asian death of a human in 2003, there has been time for this infection to go around the world a few times.
But it has not done that. So far, 105 people have died.
I shall maintain my stocks of anti-viral and anti bacterial supplements and cleaning habits. Good organic local food, frequent hand and face washing, and rest and exercise, are probably the best things we can all do, all the time.
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