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Causes of the 1918 flu epidemic

"I had a little bird,
Its name was Enza.
I opened the window,
And in flew(flu) Enza. " [1]

During the three years (1918 -1920) , the children sang this verse, from which we can know the terror of the flu at that time. It witnessed that the influenza pandemic of 1918. The pandemic of influenza from 1918 to 1919 had claimed the lives of nearly 50 million people. In the Journal of the American Medical Association final edition of 1918, there is an article about the influenza pandemic of 1918.

In an article, there are a few lines which vividly describe the situation at that time: "The 1918 has gone: a year momentous as the termination of the most cruel war in the annals of the human race; a year which marked, the end at least for a time, of man's destruction of man; unfortunately a year in which developed a most fatal infectious disease causing the death of hundreds of thousands of human beings. Medical science for four and one-half years devoted itself to putting men on the firing line and keeping them there. Now it must turn with its whole might to combating the greatest enemy of all-infectious disease," (12/28/1918). [2]

What are the causes of the 1918 flu epidemic? Theoretically, there were influenza variants. However, the origins of 1918 flu remain not precisely known. According to Eleanora McBean Ph.D., 1918 influenza pandemic was caused by vaccinations. In his opinion, vaccinations cannot only prevent diseases, but also, sometimes, cause diseases. He stated, "Many vaccines also cause other diseases besides the one for which they are given." [3] When there were more and more cases of death, there was panic. Therefore, there were more and more people wanted to get vaccinated. In the report "What Vaccinations Did to Our Soldiers", it had been proved that there were seven soldiers "dropped dead in a doctor's office after being vaccinated." There were 28,585 cases of vaccination death.

However, there are different opinions about the causes of the 1918 influenza epidemic. Some thought that the influenza variant had originated in China. After the flu broke out in Spain, there was no timely action against it, for people at that time thought that it was nothing serious. When there were more and more death cases, it was too late. Since there were a lot of cases in the military camps, some experts stated that the war (World War I) brought the influenza virus back to the U.S., and caused the second wave of epidemic. The first cases were found in Boston in September


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