Frederick Trump Grandfather of the American President died of Influenza in 1918.
Otherwise known as the Spanish Flu Pandemic which infected 500 million people and killed between 20-50 million people.

It was called the Spanish flu because it was first identified in Spain because it was a neutral country with a less censored press. Like any pandemic it started with a new strain of flu which spread from person to person and nobody had immunity. It attacked and killed relatively young people including Freud’s own daughter Sophie in 1920 aged 27 years old.

Nobody is sure where the Spanish Flu came from. France, China, Britain, and the United States were all in the frame. The first recorded case was in Kansas March 1918. With a shortage of medical staff after the WW1 – people were ordered to wear masks, & public places like theatres, schools and churches were closed. People were ordered not to shake hands and stay indoors. Spitting was banned. Aspirin was over prescribed as a cure and caused death by poisoning.

The economy suffered and many businesses were shut down due to whole families dying. Basic services of sanitation and rubbish collection were reduced. Crops could not be picked, and health departments closed unable to monitor the spread of the Pandemic.

There were 4 waves of the Spanish Flu where countries were caught out and unable to protect their populations. The Pandemic ended in 1919 where those infected either died or built up an immune system.
In 2008 scientists discovered that the Spanish Flu weakened the lungs & bronchial tubes, which enabled the spread of pneumonia.

Now 100 years later it isn’t clear how, or where Spanish Flu started. Neither is it clear whether the 1918 Spanish Flu vaccine, or the 2020 flu vaccine was/will be successful.

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique