You may have heard that this isn't the first time we've been exposed to this virus. In 1918 - 1919 the virus was seen in Spain and the pandemic was responsible for high mortality rates.
These deaths were cause by a failure in the respiratory system, resulting in the death of the affected person. The estimated deaths due to the flu virus between the years 1918 and 1919 resulted in between 20 and 30 million. Much like what's happened the virus has spread rapidly. Then the first case originated in Europe and soon spread to the States and Africa. Of course they didn't have the medical sanitation we have access to today.
With the influenza that was experienced in the 20th century there were two waves of it, the first being a rather mild wave in comparison to the second in August of 1918 which ravaged several continents and resulted in the deaths of not just the old and vunerable, but in fact the majority of deaths were people under the age of 65. However, many deaths were said to be as a result of a secondary infections, usually pneumonia. The total death figures were around the 20 million mark.
However, we've got to bear in mind how fortunate we are to have the access to the medication and hospitals we have today. It seems that H1N1 is one of those things that we will always have to be prepared for in the future and be quick to contain and quarantine it when it first outbreaks.
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