The 1918 Pandemic was a deadly outbreak of influenza that killed tens of millions globally. It was also forgotten by historians for a generation.

Medical officers in charge of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I were confident that they could stop all infectious diseases in their tracks. The previous advances in medical science showed them that wartime epidemics could be stopped through sanitary measures. But when the flu pandemic ripped through their ranks, they didn’t know what to do. And the government was too focused on winning the war to offer much help to the civilian population. After the war, authorities were unable to deal with the horrors of the disease in an honest way. They preferred to forget. And so for decades afterwards, the horrors of the 1918 pandemic were erased from the cultural consciousness.

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Written by Travis View. Theme by Nick Sena (https://nicksenamusic.com). Additional music by Pontus Berghe and Nick Sena. Editing by Corey Klotz.

REFERENCES

Arnold, Catharine (2018) Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts From the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Medical History

Byerly, Carol (2005) Fever of War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army During World War I

Barry, John M. (2018) The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic In History

Crosby, Alfred (1989) America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918