Doctors have rejected Spanish flu as a "minor infection" before the 1918 pandemic

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In the early 1900s, according to scientists, doctors called the Spanish flu a "minor" infection just a few years before killing 50 million people.

Countless lives could have been saved if doctors had taken it seriously and had found a way to stop the virus before the terrible outbreak of 1918, researchers said.

A study revealed that investigations had already been conducted in 1915 on a mysterious disease killing First World War soldiers in France and England.

According to research by an influenza expert and an army historian, doctors have not noticed that it 's been a problem. a form of flu and missed the opportunity to start a vaccination program.

Some 500 million people were infected by the Spanish flu after the outbreak of the pandemic in 1918 (photo: patients in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1918)

Some 500 million people were infected by the Spanish flu after the outbreak of the pandemic in 1918 (photo: patients in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1918)

The global pandemic, which coincided with the First World War and contributed to its worldwide spread, was going to kill more than 50 million people (Photo: Sick patients in a makeshift hospital in Oakland, 1918).

The global pandemic, which coincided with the First World War and contributed to its worldwide spread, was going to kill more than 50 million people (Photo: Sick patients in a makeshift hospital in Oakland, 1918).

A medical group based in Étaples, northern France, reported treating hundreds of people with "an unusually deadly disease" causing "complex" breathing problems in 1917.

And soldiers were shot with the virus on the other side of the Channel at Aldershot, England, in 1915 and 1916.

According to a study by Queen Mary University in London, doctors did not understand the severity of the disease nor expected the damage it would cause.

"We have identified neglected outbreaks of infection for a long time," said Professor John Oxford, a leading virologist.

"Outbreaks which, considered minor at the time, can now be considered as increasingly important and as a sign of the coming disaster".

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was the worst in recent history and had been triggered by an original virus of geese, ducks and swans.

Rapidly spreading around the world, aided by itinerant soldiers fighting during the First World War, it infected about 500 million people in just two years.

Lives could have been saved if doctors recognized the danger of the Spanish flu when it appeared a few years before the pandemic, according to experts (Photo: The Australian Red Cross volunteers in Sydney during the epidemic of influenza in 1918)

Lives could have been saved if doctors recognized the danger of the Spanish flu when it appeared a few years before the pandemic, according to experts (Photo: The Australian Red Cross volunteers in Sydney during the epidemic of influenza in 1918)

WHAT IS SPANISH PANDEMIC INFLUENZA?

The Spanish flu pandemic was a devastating influenza epidemic that spread throughout the world in 1918 and 1919.

It affected about 500 million people, about one-third of the world's population at the time, and killed more than 50 million people.

The under-fives and the over-65s were particularly affected, as were the 20-40s, probably because so many soldiers fighting in the First World War caught it.

The pandemic has received its nickname because it first attracted the attention of the press in Spain, while news stories were restricted in the United Kingdom, the United States, France and the United States. in Germany in order to avoid harming morale in wartime.

Experts believe that the epidemic was so lethal because of the sheer number of army trips abroad, the lack of vaccines and antibiotics to treat the infections secondary causes triggered by the virus.

Influenza can still be deadly, but there are jabs and effective medications to control it in most patients.

It was a third of the world's population at the time. At least 50 million people have died, with the deaths being the most serious among children under five, 20 to 40 and over 65.

At the time, there were no vaccines or antibiotics to treat infections caused by the flu. The doctors had no real way to treat them or to reduce the number of deaths.

In a study of early twentieth-century literature, Professor Oxford and his colleague, military historian Douglas Gill, found traces of the flu that was bubbling beneath the surface.

Some 60,000 soldiers were admitted to British and French hospitals in 1915 and 1916 with flu-like symptoms – and about half of them were dying.

But the virus quickly exploded and spread out of military bases and around the world.

"In essence, the virus must have mutated," said Professor Oxford. & # 39; He lost much of his virulence but gained a marked ability to spread.

"Recent experiments with a pre-pandemic" bird flu "called H5N1, deliberately mutated in the laboratory, have shown that at least five mutations could have allowed this modification.

"We understand today that one of the unique characteristics of a pre-pandemic virus is its inability to pass from one person to another."

"The Etaples and Aldershot teams, although strong in clinical diagnosis, have been misled by the lack of spread of this infection. As a result, they have not identified the flu as the underlying cause. "

The research was published in the journal Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics.

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