![]() ![]() Professor Heidi Larson, an anthropologist and Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project, has pointed out the dangers of scientific evidence and governmental advice being drowned out by ‘fake news’ in the modern digital world. ![]() Recent modelling for a similar virus today suggests a global toll of over 30 million deaths. Although we now have some vaccines, they are not universally applicable to all flu strains.Ī new vaccine would take at least six months to develop, and in today’s ever more interconnected world and the technology of intercontinental flight, we are vulnerable to such an outbreak. One hundred years on, the Spanish flu is a cautionary tale of the devastation that new infectious diseases can cause. More: A yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans is blamed on an influx of new immigrants. Sometimes the flu was a genuine and valid reason for some calamity, but often times, the flu seems to be used as a dodge.” The flu took the blame for… bad behaviour, of a less severe variety: petty theft, truancy, irrational behaviours and any out-of-character and impulsive acts. “Influenza was often used as a reason by people as an excuse to carry out crimes. Baseman found that this known symptom was used by some as ‘fake news’ to try to hoodwink those in authority: One of the most dramatic features of the Spanish flu virus was the psychosis that accompanied infection for many victims – from mild hallucinations to severe delirium, and even extreme violence. #Germany submarine cartoon fullSome people took full advantage of the chaos and confusion. But the pathogen responsible for Spanish flu remained a mystery and, with little helpful guidance available from the medical community, the world was ripe for the proliferation of ‘fake news’. The Spanish flu hit at a time when bacteriologists had enjoyed the acclaim of decades of successful discoveries, including the pathogens responsible for various high-profile diseases like tuberculosis and cholera. It’s hardly surprising that rumour and misinformation were rife. In November 1918, for example, New Zealand’s government warned Australia that “mortality is appalling… only effective measure your side will be to prevent introduction of epidemic pneumonia into Australia”. The only measure that helped was quarantine, and governments implored each other to keep the pandemic out at all costs. #Germany submarine cartoon how toHealth authorities and doctors were largely powerless – they had little idea what this malady was or how to cure it. ![]() The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–19 infected up to a third of the world’s population and killed up to 100 million people. In the final year of the First World War a deadly pandemic spread rapidly around the world. ![]()
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