LoudmouthMormon
08-19-2008, 12:38 PM
This is pretty interesting.
Bacterial Pneumonia Caused Most Deaths in 1918 Influenza Pandemic (http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2008/niaid-19.htm)
The majority of deaths during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 were not caused by the influenza virus acting alone
...
Instead, most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumonia following influenza virus infection.
...
Pathologists of the time, he adds, were nearly unanimous in the conviction that deaths were not caused directly by the then-unidentified influenza virus, but rather resulted from severe secondary pneumonia caused by various bacteria.
...
Absent the secondary bacterial infections, many patients might have survived, experts at the time believed. Indeed, the availability of antibiotics during the other influenza pandemics of the 20th century, specifically those of 1957 and 1968, was probably a key factor in the lower number of worldwide deaths
Bacterial Pneumonia Caused Most Deaths in 1918 Influenza Pandemic (http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2008/niaid-19.htm)
The majority of deaths during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 were not caused by the influenza virus acting alone
...
Instead, most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumonia following influenza virus infection.
...
Pathologists of the time, he adds, were nearly unanimous in the conviction that deaths were not caused directly by the then-unidentified influenza virus, but rather resulted from severe secondary pneumonia caused by various bacteria.
...
Absent the secondary bacterial infections, many patients might have survived, experts at the time believed. Indeed, the availability of antibiotics during the other influenza pandemics of the 20th century, specifically those of 1957 and 1968, was probably a key factor in the lower number of worldwide deaths