Published On July 11, 2018
THIS YEAR MARKS THE CENTENARY OF THE SPANISH FLU, which killed between 50 million and 100 million people around the world. That outbreak was the most lethal event of the 20th century, and for 100 years it has spurred researchers to get ahead of the next one.
“It’s always on the mind of today’s physicians,” says Martin Hirsch, a senior physician in the infectious diseases service at Massachusetts General Hospital, and editor in chief of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Hirsch joins the podcast to discuss what happened in 1918, what tools are on the horizon, and why the modern world may, perversely, be more at risk of a major epidemic.
The podcast also explores a curious footnote to the 1918 outbreak: how it appeared in the newspapers. A wartime culture of censorship kept the worst of the news from appearing in print, especially how influenza spread in the close and unsanitary barracks. Most papers preferred to focus on how the troops were “healthy and thankful for all of the patriotic support,” says Tim Stephens, a health historian who runs the blog The Great Influenza One Day at a Time.
Listen here, or subscribe to the Proto podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.
Stay on the frontiers of medicine
Related Stories
- 100 Year Shadow
A century after the worst plague in history, researchers seek a universal flu vaccine to head off a repeat of the disaster.
- Avian Flu, One Year Later
After the panic, the author of our article on avian flu discusses developments in the story.
- Fearing the Flu
The avian virus incubating in Asia is remarkably virulent. But nature itself may prevent a human pandemic.