ABSTRACT
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Three major pandemics occurred during the course of the 20th century: the infamous Spanish flu of 1918, followed by two smaller flu pandemics, the Asian flu of 1957 and the Hong Kong flu of 1968. The World Health Organization describes the Spanish flu of 1918-1919 (H1N1) as “exceptional, the most deadly disease event in human history” (WHO, 2005). The Spanish flu infected an estimated 500 million people around the world and death toll estimates range from 25 to 100 million people. Most deaths occurred in a 16-week period from mid-September to mid-December of 1918 (Barry, 2004a). All modern pandemics are measured against the catastrophic 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, as the world has since not seen a virus that severe. “If the 1918 flu were to hit today in the U.S., it would kill more people than heart disease, cancers, strokes, chronic pulmonary disease, AIDS, and Alzheimer’s disease combined. However, many people today are unaware that this epidemic even happened” (Kolata, 1999).
