The 1918 Flu Pandemic: New Clues Revealed by Skeletons
The skeletons of individuals who lived during the 1918 flu pandemic have provided intriguing insights into the factors that increased the likelihood of death from the virus. Often referred to as the Spanish flu, this pandemic was the deadliest in history, claiming the lives of approximately 50 million people. While it has long been believed that the virus primarily affected young, healthy adults, a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences challenges this assumption, suggesting that frail or unhealthy individuals were actually more vulnerable.
An emergency hospital at Camp Funston, Kansas, during the 1918 influenza pandemic.
The researchers, from McMaster University in Canada and the University of Colorado Boulder, conducted an examination of skeletal remains from 369 individuals housed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. All of these individuals had died either shortly before or during the 1918 pandemic. The sample was divided into two groups: a control group who had died prior to the pandemic and another group who died during the pandemic. The bones were analyzed for lesions indicating stress or inflammation, which could have been caused by physical trauma, infection, or malnutrition. Active or healing lesions provided insights into the level of frailty, or vulnerability to death.
“Our study shows that people with active lesions were the most frail,” stated Sharon DeWitte, a biological anthropologist at the University of Colorado Boulder and a co-author of the study.
Amanda Wissler, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at McMaster, emphasized the impact of cultural, social, and biological circumstances on the likelihood of death. She pointed out that even in a novel pandemic, certain individuals are more at risk due to cultural factors. Wissler drew parallels with the current COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting how reports indicated that individuals with limited access to social services had higher rates of illness and mortality. The study’s findings were consistent with previous research indicating that certain groups have a higher risk of death in various contexts, including past pandemics and natural disasters.
While the study sheds light on the vulnerabilities associated with the 1918 flu pandemic, it does have some limitations. The researchers only had access to information about individuals who died from the virus, not those who were infected but survived. Additionally, the study focused on individuals from Cleveland, Ohio, and it remains to be seen if these findings can be generalized to other cities.
Dr. Mark-Alain Déry, an infectious disease physician in New Orleans, expressed some questions regarding the study. Although he found the research compelling in terms of highlighting the higher rates of illness and mortality in vulnerable communities, he pointed out that it is not known whether the individuals examined actually died from influenza. Furthermore, the study had a relatively small sample size.
Despite these limitations, the researchers stressed the importance of studying past pandemics and epidemics. Understanding how diseases impact humans and how we influence them can provide valuable insights into current and future health crises. To protect against the strains of influenza circulating today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends annual vaccination for everyone aged 6 months and older.
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Melissa Rudy is the health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital.
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