‘Pandemic 1918’ and ‘Influenza’ chronicle the flu’s devastating history and uncertain future
[...] Grim eyewitness accounts chronicle the gory details of how this virus differed. Victims often bled from the nose or mouth, writhed in pain and grew delirious with fever. Their faces turned dusky blue as their lungs filled with pus. Healthy men and women in their prime were dying, sometimes within days of falling ill. And there was a smell associated with the sick, “like very musty straw,” recalled one survivor. Arnold’s graphic depictions of the carnage make for some gripping scenes, but the book is perhaps too ambitious. She zigzags between so many people and places that only the most careful reader will be able to keep track of who fell ill where.
Another book tied to the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu, Influenza, by long-time emergency room doctor Jeremy Brown, covers some of the same ground. Both Arnold and Brown, for instance, chronicle the hunt for the 1918 virus in bodies buried in Arctic permafrost and efforts to reconstruct the virus’s genetic code. But while Arnold’s book is rooted primarily in the past, Brown spends more time on recent research. He provides an in-depth look at what scientists now know about the 1918 strain, an H1N1 virus that originated in birds and spent time in an unknown mammalian host before infecting humans. In 2005, researchers managed to re-create the virus and test it in mice. The experiment provided insight into how the virus might have wrought so much damage in the lungs, but it also renewed a debate over the ethics of reconstructing deadly viruses. These kinds of experiments can help scientists better understand the inner workings of pathogens, but might also help people build biological weapons.
Two new books explore the science and history of the 1918 flu pandemic
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @01:49AM (6 children)
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm [cdc.gov]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday December 08 2018, @03:07AM (5 children)
Now go get our vaccine or else you will die, just like last year.
Great, I shouldn't get the flu this year, like I did when I got the flu vaccine last year! Uh...I feel a bit...queasy...kgdfghdgjfhdgkhfgdfkd.......
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @03:53AM (2 children)
Should have stuck with grandpa's cough syrup.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday December 08 2018, @04:14AM (1 child)
Grandpa's "cough syrup" was Vodka. Still better than being injected with unknown crap. Still better to this day, in fact. Flying for Air America really drives the point home that Grandpa trusted nobody, especially not the fuckery that is going on today.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @01:10PM
Whisky, in my granda's case.
Also good for teething kiddies...never did me any harm (it is family legend that the first word I ever uttered on this dirtball was 'thikky'..) funny thing is, unlike a lot of the rest of the family I never became an alcoholic.
(Score: 2, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Saturday December 08 2018, @07:19AM
Doesn't No Carrier mean you don't have the virus? :)
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday December 08 2018, @03:46PM
I know this was trying to be funny, but I think even on a site like this (with a high nerd population), it may be useful to clarify what "THE flu" is and is not.
Because over the years I've heard many people recount these stories about, "You know, I got the flu vaccine, and it gave me the flu..." or "I got the vaccine, and then I got the flu anyway! And it was worse!"
When I hear those stories, I tend to politely ask those people -- "Wow, I'm sorry -- what were your symptoms like?"
And the vast majority of the time, I hear stuff in response like, "Oh my GOD! I spent a day on the toilet!" or "I was just throwing up for three DAYS!"
And then I politely tell them that they actually did NOT have "the flu," the vaccine likely didn't give them that illness, and the vaccine likely still worked. Because that's SCIENCE.
Many of you will not be surprised by this last statement, but some might be. Just to be clear: influenza is a specific illness with specific symptoms. Influenza does not cause the illnesses commonly referred to as "stomach flu" or a "stomach bug," nor does it usually cause the illnesses called "24-hour flu" (which is often just used for a "stomach bug" that lasts a short time). There's a long history behind the name "flu" used for such conditions, but they generally have nothing to do with influenza.
Actual "flu" (i.e., caused by influenza virus) is primarily a respiratory illness with many symptoms like the common cold, though fever and aches/fatigue are usually worse. In the vast majority of cases where people are infected by influenza, they think they just have a "bad cold" (or even, occasionally a mild one). Influenza does not generally cause gastrointestinal symptoms, though children and others who swallow a lot of mucus may vomit a couple times. But for the elderly, the young, and others with compromised immune systems, influenza can be a very serious and frequently fatal illness. It simply shouldn't be equated with a "24-hour stomach bug."
The "stomach flu" again has nothing to do with influenza and instead is generally a broad condition (gastroenteritis), which might be caused by a number of other viruses and bacteria, notably norovirus. In a significant number of cases, the cause is actually food poisoning. Again, contrary to popular belief, food poisoning does not necessarily cause immediate symptoms. Frequently, an incubation time of a day or two (or even several days in some cases) is required before people show symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea from food poisoning -- which also tends to lead people to make stupid claims like, "I've always defrosted my chicken in this [unsafe] way! And I've never gotten sick!" Most people simply don't make the connection between a meal eaten 36 hours earlier with risky prep and a later "stomach flu," probably because they believe it to be "flu."
The only thing "stomach flu" and influenza have in common is that in severe cases, they both can cause fever and weakness/fatigue. But food poisoning and related gastrointestinal viruses rarely cause severe respiratory symptoms, and "the flu" rarely causes severe gastrointestinal symptoms. It's not hard to tell these apart, but so many people seem to confuse them because of the name.
I've tried looking for polls on this stuff in the past, because I think these misconceptions about what "flu" is are incredibly widespread. I've found polls that list the number of people who don't get the vaccine because they claim they never get "the flu" and don't need it, or that the vaccine gives them "the flu" or they get it later anyway. But I haven't seen polls that ask the follow-up question: "What were those symptoms of 'the flu'?" Or "You say you never get the flu, but have you had 'bad colds' in recent years where you've felt feverish and achy?"
I bet if the CDC did polls like this, they'd find the majority of Americans don't actually know what "the flu" is. (I once had a long conversation with an experienced nurse who refused to believe me when I told her that almost all "stomach flu" cases have nothing to do with "the flu" caused by influenza.) And then they'd realize that if they want to convince people to get the flu vaccine, they simply need to actually inform them that what they're really going to avoid is that "really bad cold" with chills and fever that kept them out of work for a couple days last year, but it won't prevent them from getting that "24-hour stomach flu" that actually was caused because they ate leftovers that sat on the counter all night (which they supposedly "never get sick!" from)... nor should they take that "24-hour stomach flu" as an excuse to not get a flu shot, because the shot didn't cause it and it wasn't even "the flu."
(Score: 2, Funny) by archfeld on Saturday December 08 2018, @04:45AM (6 children)
I am an influenza denier. It never happened. It is all made up by the Big Pharma to sell 'flu' shots.
My brother is a Micro-Biologist, his wife is a corporate lawyer. Thanksgiving and Christmas time are always fun for me. He hates me, at least she has a sense of humor and collects lawyer jokes.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Saturday December 08 2018, @08:04AM (1 child)
I think all lawyers collect lawyer jokes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @01:30PM
Yes, they're a merry bunch, much as I hate them I do admire the way they always get the last laugh in as they present you with their bill...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @02:24PM (3 children)
If you want to live and stay healthy, stay away from pharma and their vaccines. They are controlled and run by khazar jewish rats.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @09:28PM (2 children)
Don't listen to the voices in your head! They'll just get you into trouble. Listen instead to CNN, PBS, and Al Jazeera. They will steer you towards the light.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Sunday December 09 2018, @02:23AM
Heresy alert: Faux Noise is the only True Source for Noose!
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Sunday December 09 2018, @03:26AM
I keep telling myself that, but we never listen. :)_
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday December 08 2018, @11:24AM (2 children)
"The Hot Zone" is a sensationalistic look at such extremely virulent diseases as Ebola. Laurie Garrett's "The Coming Plague" is quite a sober, well-thought out discussion of the same phenomena.
The Hot Zone's author repeatedly emphasizes the risk to all of Humanity posed by air travel, then concludes with "The Human Race is a trillion pounds of meat just waiting for a virus".
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @12:23PM (1 child)
Will have to hunt these down and have a read.
Ebola outbreak + religious nutters on a mission + air travel = potential trouble on a global scale.
Considering the fact that they're dying for the cause and will receive thei rewards for their sacrifice in their hereafter, just think about how many creative ways someone who deliberately infects themself with Ebola could 'spread the love' before being detected.
I'm still strongly of the opinion that the next mass 'thinning of the herd' won't be a natural outbreak, but will be a deliberate pandemic (plausible deniability...the decrease in fertility gambit isn't working fast enough) before that, expect to see smaller scale outbreaks of nasties created by religious nut jobs.
To cheer myself up, I'll dig out my copy of 'Year Zero' by Jeff Long and laugh at the sillier bits..
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday December 08 2018, @04:09PM
I'd like to have a peek inside the heart and mind of whoever invented that particular aerosol.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 08 2018, @04:56PM
Since the link doesnt mention the possible role of overdosing patients on aspirin, I assume these "exploratory" books are BS: https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/49/9/1405/301441 [oup.com]