The History of Flu
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010The flu has been around for thousands of years, and its symptoms and effects were properly first described by Hippocrates more than 2,400 years ago. This contagious disease has caused many people throughout the length of time to suffer and even die.Luckily, nowadays we can help prevent people from getting infected by the Influenza virus, the scientific name of the flu. This is particularly important for some groups of the society that are more prone to developing serious consequences such as pneumonia or severe bronchitis as a result of contracting the flu. In order to ensure a person is protected against the flu strain predicted to flare up this year, visit your local GP to get the flu vaccination 2010.
Flu probably started to spread from Europe to the Americas during the colonization periods. And records show that almost the entire indigenous population of some Caribbean islands were wiped out by a flu epidemic after Christopher Columbus discovered the islands. It was not until 1580 that there is a recorded pandemic outbreak, which moved its way from Russia to Africa and spread out all over Europe. This first recorded flu pandemic left more than 8.000 people dead in the city of Rome and wiped out entire Spanish cities. However, probably the most famous and deadly flu pandemic to date was the so called Spanish flu pandemic (1918). This was a type A influenza H1N1 virus which infected and killed people during a period of for more than twelve months. Figures estimated that almost 100 million people died as a direct result of this flu strain, which may have been 2.5 to 5% of the world’s population at that time.
Most people infected during the Spanish flu outbreak that died had severe flu symptoms, which resulted into additional conditions such as hemorrhages in the nose stomach, intestines and even the ears and skin. In addition, many people died not directly from the flu, but from the secondary infections such as pneumonia. The Spanish Flu pandemic was probably the first flu epidemic that reached all corners of the world. In addition, this strain of the Influenza flu was particularly deadly for especially (young) adults under the age of 65.
Today’s flu strains seem to be more dangerous for the population group of over 65 and therefore the recommendation for this age group is to get flu jabs yearly. Due to the fact that the flu strains usually change every year this year people should make sure that their local GP administers the correct seasonal flu vaccinations.