COVID-19 has already declared as a global pandemic. There are thousands of people who are infected with Coronavirus worldwide. Almost every country around the world is trying to fight against Coronavirus. And most of the countries have declared nationwide lockdown to improve the situation. As there is no vaccination available for COVID-19, we can only break the chain of infection if we stay at home. Although Coronavirus has different types, COVID-19 is currently the worst. But, when we talk about global pandemics, Spanish Flu is no doubt one of the pandemics that we’ve seen. So, in this post, we’ll compare Spanish Flu vs COVID-19.
Although we haven’t seen the ending of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can predict if we compare it with Spanish Flu. Many people do doesn’t know about the Spanish Flu. So, it’s very important to learn about a global pandemic that we have already seen. Talking about COVID-19, the best thing that you can do to prevent the infection of Coronavirus is, staying at home. Home quarantine can save you from Coronavirus infection and it’s the best way that we can use to fight against Coronavirus. If you go outside, don’t forget to wear a mask to protect yourself from Coronavirus droplets.
Spanish Flu
It’s no doubt that Spanish Flu is one of the worst pandemics mankind has ever seen. The Spanish flu occurred in January 1918 to December 1920. However, the Spanish Flu did not originate in Spain. There’s a reason why it’s named Spanish Flu. Actually it was the time of World War I. And Spain remained neutral in the war. Spanish Flu was first published in Spanish newspapers. And then the King of Spain infected with this flu. That’s how Spanish Flu got its name. Spanish Flu was like an influenza disease.
Almost 500 million people were infected with Spanish Flu. And almost 50 million people lost their lives because of this Flu. The number is huge and at that time, it was 2.8% of the world’s population. And at that time, we didn’t have any antibiotics or vaccines for diseases. Most of the armies of the United Kingdom, United States were affected by this Flu. And it spread in most of the countries around the world. After the Plague or Black Death, Spanish Flu was the deadliest pandemic to the whole world. Spanish Flu was caused by the H1N1 influenza virus. And later in 2009, it spread as Swine Flu.
After the Spanish Flu outbreak, the economy was devastated. It is believed that the Spanish flu got into humans from Birds and the Pigs. Almost 16 million people died in World War I. And in Spanis Flu, 50 million died. So, the number of deaths is more than the deaths from World War. When treating the victims, many doctors and nurses were infected with Spanish Flu. Spanish Flu killed mostly adults of that time. The age of the dead persons was between 20-30. So, it’s no doubt that it wasn’t a good time for the people of that time.
COVID-19
COVID-19 or Coronavirus Disease 2019 is a big challenge to the whole world at this time. It occurred in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. And after the outbreak, there are thousands of people worldwide who are infected with COVID-19. COVID-19 is a disease that happens because of Coronavirus. We have already seen other Coronavirus diseases like SARS in earlier days, but the number of infected people was not that much. The death rate of COVID-19 is about 2%-3%. And our immune system can fight against COVID-19. So, people with low immunity has more death rate because of COVID-19. And currently, COVID-19 is the biggest problem for the whole world.
Currently, there are 1 Million+ peoples are infected with COVID-19 and almost 80,000+ peoples have died with this virus. Although we have advanced technologies nowadays and have a lot of resources to use, currently there is no vaccination available for COVID-19. Coronavirus has spread in almost every country in the world. The symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to seasonal flu. One can experience dry cough, high fever, sore throat because of Coronavirus. Coronavirus can spread from the droplets of an infected person. When a person coughs or sneezes, it can get into another person exposing to the droplets.
Spanish Flu vs COVID-19 : Can We Compare?
There are some similarities and differences between Spanish Flu and COVID-19. Both of these diseases came from animal sources. Spanis Flu originally came from Birds and Pigs. And it is suspected that COVID-19 came from an animal market in Wuhan. But, currently, the infection rate of COVID-19 is no where to the Spanish Flu. However, we can’t predict the future. But, as most of the nations have declared lockdown in their countries, it may reduce the infection rate. Because social distancing is the only thing that we can do right now.
However, the incubation period between Spanish Flu vs COVID-19. The incubation period of Spanish Flu was very short, it was one or two days. But, COVID-19 has more incubation period that the Spanish Flu. And at the time of Spanish Flu, we didn’t have proper test kits to test the infection. But now, we have test kits that we can use to get the test result in 24 hours. Where the death age of Spanish Flu was between 20-40 years, among young ages, we are seeing deaths among old patients with COVID-19. And many people already got well after the COVID-19 infection.
So, we can’t really compare these two pandemics. Currently, we have COVID-19 pandemic and we should focus on it only. However, one thing that we can learn about Spanish Flu is, no matter how big the pandemic is, we can fight against it and make our lives back to normal. So, you don’t need to panic about COVID-19. Just maintain social distancing and stay at home and you are good to go.
Final Words
So, guys, I hope you liked the information in this post. If you liked, you can share it with your friends on social media platforms. You can also provide your feedback in the comment section below. And don’t go outside unless you have an emergency. And don’t forget to wear a mask when you go out.