Jacob

Spanish Flu vs COVID-19

By Jacob Fisk

               What do you think is worse the Spanish flu or COVID-19? Well this is going to answer questions about both and maybe you will change your mind. First, we will talk a little about both of their time periods or when they came into play and how that effected the spread of them. Second, I will talk about how much of the population effected. Next, I will tell you about how humans tried to stop it. Finally, I will speak about the outlook to the future of both viruses.

First, we will talk a little about both of their time periods or when they came into play and how that effected the spread of the viruses. The Spanish flu came into play in at the end WW1 or 1918. Since in war there is a lot of contact it spread quickly. The Spanish flu was a combination of the H1N1 and avian flu. The COVID-19 started in 2019 almost 100 years later. The COVID is not a new virus but the COVID-19 is. It started in a live animal market in China.

Second, I will talk about how much of the human population effected. The Spanish Flu had a lot of contact between people, around 1/3 of the human population got infected and 50 million died from it (CDC 2020, March,23). It most affected the ages between 20-40 years old worldwide. For the COVID-19 the human population has grown but so far only 230,000 people are infected and close to 10,000 have died worldwide. Its most effected ages 60 years old and up and people with underline health problems.

Next, I will tell you about how humans tried to stop it. The human response to both viruses is pretty much the same. People with the COVID-19 and the Spanish flu were quarantined. But the people in war are kind of hard to quarantine because there are a lot of them, so the flu spread. The schools, business, and restaurants where still mostly open during the flu outbreak causing it to spread more. In 1946 the CDC (Center of disease control) created vaccinations for the flu and created national emergency procedures for outbreaks. For the COVID-19 we are social distancing, and everything is shut down from schools to restaurants.

Then, I will speak about the outlook to the future of both viruses. At the beginning the Spanish flu did not have much medical help because most doctors and nurses were at war and no medicines were able to stop it. Since then the Spanish flu now has vaccines, drugs, antibiotics, and ventilators which humans did not have in 1918. The COVID-19 has no vaccines or drugs so there in no stopping it currently. Luckily researchers are making vaccinations to stop COVID-19. More info will come from future research on it.

Finally, I have given you some information on both viruses. First, you learned about the time periods of both viruses. Second, we talked about the population affected by both viruses Then, you learned how humans tried to stop them. Next, I told you about the future of both viruses. I hope you made your decision on which is worse, I think it will be the Spanish flu but the COVID-19 is still going on so you never know.

Work Cited

 Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, March 23). History of 1918 Flu Pandemic. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/1918-pandemic-history.htm

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