—Epidemic Killed More Americans Than All the Combat Deaths of the 20th Century Combined—
As the threat of a flu pandemic looms worldwide, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE reprises “Influenza 1918,” narrated by Linda Hunt.
In the spring and summer of 1918, a new flu outbreak, dubbed Spanish Influenza, moved with soldiers from the European battlefields of World War I to the homefront.
By September, the flu began to exact a toll on the civilian population; in the month of October alone, 195,000 Americans died of the disease.
In total, more than 500,000 Americans succumbed to the flu that year, more than all the combat casualties in all the wars of the 20th century. Globally, the death toll has been estimated at anywhere between 20 and 40 million people.
This film “plays like a bio-thriller straight out of Hollywood,” —New York Post.
Medical Investigation of Influenza:
The surprise pandemic of 1918 shook Americans’ confidence in the medical establishment that had previously found vaccines for other lethal diseases like smallpox and typhoid.
People tried everything to avoid getting the virus — from gargling with mouthwash to wearing masks — but it was not until years after the pandemic was over that scientists made any real breakthroughs.
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"The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and COVID-19"
Interview: Jeffrey Taubenberger
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Credits:
A Robert Kenner Films production for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Co-Producer: Alla Savranskaia. Written by Ken Chowder. Editor: Alison Ellwood. Music: Mark Adler.
