We call it the Spanish Flu, the Spanish call it the French Flu and the Germans call it the Blitzkatarrah, but what exactly to is it?The H1N1 virus killed thousands in 1918. They say it originated from pigs and later named it the Swine Flu. There were many deadly symptoms to this virus. Poet William Carlos Williams stated that “they’d be sick one day and gone the next” (Smith).

The H1N1 virus started in Haskell County, Kansas in 1918. It was also happening in India, Russia and China. It was happening world-wide or a “pandemic” some might say. The flu lasted around nine months but people were not taking it seriously.

There were many serious symptoms to this sickness. They include a drippy nose, 72 hour fever, sore joints and muscles. Others had worse symptoms like, filled lungs, bloody sputum, longer fever, black feet, skin turning blue and then even death.

The reason for people turning blue was the lack of oxygen. The flu targeted 20-40 year olds because they died off easier. People protected themselves by wearing cloth masks.

The virus killed off about 2% of the population in 1918. It happened in San Diego very fats. There were 329 reported cases and 11 people died. A couple of days later there were 488 cases reported and 18 people died. This virus killed more people than AIDS did in 24 years. Between October and December 3,337 San Diegans had gotten the flu, but luckily only 202 died. The virus became weaker and weaker and the flu slowed down because of the loss of protein. The virus infected 1/3 of the worlds total population and killed 50-100 million.

The flu was very tragic. Most of the 1918 population  was killed off or infected seriously. it came on fast and left slowly. In 1918 the symptoms were a lot more severe due to the lack of medicines that are available today. Today we are lucky to have vaccinations and we know what precautions to take to lessen our chances of not getting sick.