When did the Spanish flu start in Kansas?
March 1918
The earliest documented case was March 1918 in Kansas, United States, with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in April. Two years later, nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves.
What was the average age of people who died in the 1918 influenza pandemic?
28 years old
During the 1918 pandemic, the virus also affected young adults between 20 and 40 years of age. The average age of death was 28 years old. It was called the Spanish Flu not because the pandemic started in Spain.
Where did the 1918 influenza pandemic get its start within the United States?
Both contemporary epidemiological studies and lay histories of the pandemic have identified the first known outbreak of epidemic influenza as occurring at Camp Funston, now Ft. Riley, in Kansas.
What started the Spanish flu in Kansas?
The accepted origins of the so-called Spanish flu were at Camp Funston (now Fort Riley) in central Kansas in March 1918. Over the course of the month, 1,100 of the camp’s 26,000 soldiers fell ill with a particularly virulent form of influenza and 48 men died.
What medical advances came from the Spanish flu?
The search for the virus, and a vaccine to prevent the influenza, led to a number of other discoveries. It created tools for the development of other vaccines. Today we still use fertile eggs to grow viruses. It also led to our understanding of the nature of genes and the chemicals that encode them.
What steps were taken during the Spanish flu?
The most effective efforts had simultaneously closed schools, churches, and theaters, and banned public gatherings. This would allow time for vaccine development (though a flu vaccine was not used until the 1940s) and lessened the strain on health care systems.
How long did it take to get rid of the Spanish flu?
The influenza pandemic of 1918–19, also called the Spanish flu, lasted between one and two years. The pandemic occurred in three waves, though not simultaneously around the globe.