By the end of May, the virus
was in Shanghai infecting half the population. After that,
it spread to New Zealand and Austria where 30 percent of the population
bowed to its dominance. Strangely, even though it was spreading
explosively, it did not kill with the same enthusiasm as before; it was
still finding its way to the most efficient killing machine. At this
stage, it spread rapidly but killed in much lower percentages as before.
People were calling it the three-day flu. The disease spread rapidly in
Europe and even though it was less dangerous, it still showed signs of
extreme ferocity. Notice the progression of the virus’s mutations toward
its maximum killing efficiency. This is very important information that
could help you develop your individual plan. It could help you judge
misleading information obtained from other sources.
In Louisville, Kentucky their
first wave showed the virus was developing rapidly
infecting and choking the lunges with blood. Remember the first wave that
hits your area may not be the first wave of the mutation. Therefore, its
characteristics could vary from other reported occurrences. People were
dying within 24 to 48 hours, which was extremely rare for people dying of
pneumonia.
Another strange thing that
started to develop was that 40% of those who died were between twenty and
thirty-five years old. In normal influenza statistics,
this group had the lowest number of casualties. It was a frightening
reality to witness a large number of people dying within a matter of a few
weeks. Even more so, when you realize that almost half were strong adults.
Between June and August, more
than two hundred thousand British soldiers were sick out of two
million. Then all of a sudden, it was gone again. The
British command declared that the pandemic was over and other
professionals agreed.
Viruses use a process known as
passage to adapt to their environment. When an organism
has a weak ability to cause a disease passes from one animal to another,
it will often become more proficient in growing and spreading. This will
often increase its ability to kill. However, like many other things it is
not that easy the phenomenon is complex. The killing efficiency continues
up to a point. The virus’s goal is to grow in as many hosts as possible.
Say for example, the virus kills too efficiently, it could run out of
hosts quickly condemning itself to extinction. However, if it was less
deadly, it could hide in its host not killing it and spreading too many
more hosts all over the world.
The complex
nature of passage can also cause the virus to be less dangerous to a
single person. In 1918 when the virus leaped from being a
bird’s only disease to a human disease, it became less poisonous. This
mutation was much easier to catch than before. Today, the H5N1 virus is
difficult to catch in humans because infections develop deep in the
lunges. Since the infection is so deep up to 60% of the people, who catch
it die. When someone coughs, a lot of the infection is not present because
the infection is so deep in the lunges. When the virus learns to set up
shop close to the entrance of the lunges, it will be less deadly but it
could spread more easily. Therefore, when people sick with the bird flu
cough, the infection will spread easily.
The bird flu killed about 2.5%
of the total population in 1918. Once today’s virus passes
through enough humans’, the kill rate could drop from its current level of
more than 60% to a lower number. This lower number could be as low as 1%
to 10% of the population making it much more dangerous. Passage is a major
key because the more of it that occurs the greater the chance that a
pandemic will occur.
National journals in different
parts of the world described the flu as mild. However,
other parts of the world were experiencing a vicious second wave almost
simultaneously which pounced upon them without notice. This is why you
must know what wave is currently in your area. In addition, since waves
come and go almost without noticing it is extremely important that you
practice safe habits between waves of influenza activity. This "mutant
swarm" had passed through a large number of humans all over the world and
this passage enabled the virus to adapt and achieve its maximum
efficiency.
Usually if many people are not,
near you outdoors you would be safe from the virus in the
air. However, on September 28, 1918, Philadelphia had a
huge parade in the city meant to raise money for the war effort. This was
an important event and of course, the city officials wanted to back the
men at war for our country even considering the risk. The doctors felt
since the event was outdoors in the open air there would not be any great
danger. However, thousands and thousands of people all breathing the same
air turned out to be an area for the disease to spread. Only a few days
later the virus hospitalized thousands of people.
On October 3, officials banned
all public meetings in the city which included further parades, meetings
at all churches, schools, theaters and even public
funerals. In only ten days, the epidemic had erupted from
one or two deaths a day to hundreds of deaths each day. This is why you
must avoid crowds at all cost both indoors and outdoors. This also brings
up your activities between influenza waves of activity. If you drop your
guard even for a short time, you can catch the flu.
City authorities and newspapers
minimized the danger in 1918 and they might do it again
remember the conflict of interest and the necessity to keep the economy
running. I am all for keeping the economy healthy; I just want people to
be aware so they can adjust their plan correctly.
There were thousands and thousands of sick people in
Philadelphia. People were simply terrified because their
friends, family and associates were here one day and dead the next. It
struck so quickly that many victims were perfectly healthy one minute and
died within twelve hours. The Journal of the American Medical Association
had reports of death within hours of notice that they were sick. No matter
how mild the symptoms in the beginning, the infection could spread and
kill them in a matter of hours. The city was so petrified with fear that
few people would go outside unnecessarily.
The symptoms of the disease
varied sometimes it started with extreme exhaustion,
fever, chill, headache, eye infection, pained limbs and back and flushing
of the face and a continuing cough. If you were still alive after 10 days,
it probably meant that you would make it through the disease.
Then there were the cases in
which the virus struck with violence. Those however, who
suffered a violent attack, often experienced extreme pain potentially
covering any part of the body. In addition, it affected the victim’s
mental state in extreme ways. People went temporarily out of their minds.
Young people usually have the strongest
immune systems and can normally put up the strongest immune
response. Since, they have the healthiest systems, it is logical
to assume they would fight the disease more successfully than any other
group. However, the disease manipulated that strength and turned it into
a weakness. The same strange anomaly is occurring with the swine flu/H5N1 virus
today.
