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Another wave of H1N1 influenza spreads
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Letter carrier, New York, Oct. 16. 1918
(U.S. government archives)
As cases of H1N1 Swine flu quadruple in Northeast Wisconsin, the state of Wisconsin finds it can't meet H1N1 vaccine needs. Sauk County officials have declared a public health emergency, while many schools in the state are closing including Marinette High School, Hartland South Elementary in Waukesha County and Morning Star Lutheran School in Jackson.
Similarities have been made between the current H1N1 flu pandemic and the world-wide great pandemic of the Spanish Flu in 1918. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control, almost all Influenza A pandemics since 1918 are caused by descendants of that disease.
The great pandemic of 1918 caused nearly 50 million deaths worldwide. It had swept through the United States in only seven days. In the end, it killed 675,000 Americans, infecting 100,000 in Wisconsin alone and causing approximately 8,400 deaths here.
Like the current H1N1 Swine Flu, the Spanish Flu came in several waves, starting weakly in the spring, a time normally unfavorable to the spread of disease, then returning in the fall. A second similarity is the ages it affects. Most normal flu affects the very young and the elderly. The Spanish Flu, and the current Swine Flu, affect young healthy adults between 25 and 45 years of age.
As of October 16, 2009, H1N1 influenza A is widespread in 41 states, up from 37 the week prior. The rest are experiencing regional activity. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states "it's unprecedented for this time of year to have the whole country seeing such high levels of activity."
The CDC also states that 86 children under age 18 have died from the 2009 H1N1 flu. Deaths had leveled off during the summer, but 39 have been reported since August 30, 2009.
In Wisconsin, H1N1 cases have been reported in 52 of the state's 72 counties. Recently a 21-month old Cashton girl died, raising Wisconsin's death toll this year to nine.
Influenza is not only one of the oldest diseases, and the most common around the world, but is also one of the deadliest. In the last four months of the year, the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918 killed more than 8,400 Wisconsin residents
Despite the warnings, despite the comparisons and reminders of what happened in 1918, despite the rising death toll -- H1N1 has already killed twice as many children since April as the regular flu killed all of last season -- many parents are still reluctant to give their children the vaccine.
Milwaukee will distribute the first batch of H1N1 flu virus vaccine to the general public on Friday, October 23, 2009.
For further information:
- Centers for Disease Control
- Wisconsin's Pandemic Resource
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about availability of vaccine
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