World History
ABC has this report on why the 1918 flu virus was so deadly in Fatal Immunity and the 1918 Flu Virus. The bug that spread around the word was more deadly than the last year of deaths caused by World War One. Over 50 million people died.
Siri Nillson reported, "The flu virus that killed roughly 50 million people worldwide in 1918 is alive and still very deadly. New research sheds light on how the 1918 Spanish flu virus might have killed so many people so quickly ? and opens new horizons for researchers who hope to avoid a flu pandemic today. Scientists regenerated the 1918 virus Jurassic-Park-like from a frozen corpse two years ago. Now scientists have discovered that the regenerated virus can kill monkeys much as it killed humans in 1918, by kicking the immune system into dangerous overdrive, which ultimately kills the infected host."
Most of the victims were healthy people in the prime of life. Why? Because healthy people have strong immune systems. And it was the immune systems of the victims which appears to have killed them. The elderly and the very young had weaker immune systems and hence were less likely to die.
Nillson concluded, "Bottom line ? new research on the regenerated 1918 flu virus shows just how deadly the virus really is. The new research could eventually lead scientists to a new therapy, to a new way of treating deadly flu viruses."
This is important as more deadly flu bugs will appear in the future to influence history. Maybe the researchers can find something which will help to short circuit the next pandemic.
- Ten Scientifically Scientific Innaccurate Movies?
Yahoo has a nice article up titled Top 10 Scientifically Inaccurate Movies. The article notes: If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they'd probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in...
- Top 3 Worst War Films
Back in September, The Osprey Publishing Blog had a post on the Top 3 Worst War Films. I discovered this post via the 7th Military History Carnival. The carnival author noted, "I asked what the Top Three Worst War films were and what war films our readers...
- Past Pandemics That Ravaged Europe
Past pandemics that ravaged Europe. This BBC article is from November 2005. It discusses some of the past disease outbreaks which have killed large numbers in Europe. As talk of a possible bird flu pandemic continues, I think this is a good article to...
- Happy Armistice Day!
Today marks the anniversary of the end of the First World War. Armistice Day is recognized in the United States of America as Veteran's Day and in most of the Commonwealth countries (including Canada) as Remembrance Day. On November 11th, 1918 at...
- The Plague Was Not Spread By Rats!
The skeleton remains in London I spoke about in the post below are giving us more information. Thanks to Rebecca Small who sent this article to me which states that the speed with which those who died in the Bubonic Plague could not have been transmitted...
World History
Fatal Immunity and the 1918 Flu Virus
ABC has this report on why the 1918 flu virus was so deadly in Fatal Immunity and the 1918 Flu Virus. The bug that spread around the word was more deadly than the last year of deaths caused by World War One. Over 50 million people died.
Siri Nillson reported, "The flu virus that killed roughly 50 million people worldwide in 1918 is alive and still very deadly. New research sheds light on how the 1918 Spanish flu virus might have killed so many people so quickly ? and opens new horizons for researchers who hope to avoid a flu pandemic today. Scientists regenerated the 1918 virus Jurassic-Park-like from a frozen corpse two years ago. Now scientists have discovered that the regenerated virus can kill monkeys much as it killed humans in 1918, by kicking the immune system into dangerous overdrive, which ultimately kills the infected host."
Most of the victims were healthy people in the prime of life. Why? Because healthy people have strong immune systems. And it was the immune systems of the victims which appears to have killed them. The elderly and the very young had weaker immune systems and hence were less likely to die.
Nillson concluded, "Bottom line ? new research on the regenerated 1918 flu virus shows just how deadly the virus really is. The new research could eventually lead scientists to a new therapy, to a new way of treating deadly flu viruses."
This is important as more deadly flu bugs will appear in the future to influence history. Maybe the researchers can find something which will help to short circuit the next pandemic.
- Ten Scientifically Scientific Innaccurate Movies?
Yahoo has a nice article up titled Top 10 Scientifically Inaccurate Movies. The article notes: If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they'd probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in...
- Top 3 Worst War Films
Back in September, The Osprey Publishing Blog had a post on the Top 3 Worst War Films. I discovered this post via the 7th Military History Carnival. The carnival author noted, "I asked what the Top Three Worst War films were and what war films our readers...
- Past Pandemics That Ravaged Europe
Past pandemics that ravaged Europe. This BBC article is from November 2005. It discusses some of the past disease outbreaks which have killed large numbers in Europe. As talk of a possible bird flu pandemic continues, I think this is a good article to...
- Happy Armistice Day!
Today marks the anniversary of the end of the First World War. Armistice Day is recognized in the United States of America as Veteran's Day and in most of the Commonwealth countries (including Canada) as Remembrance Day. On November 11th, 1918 at...
- The Plague Was Not Spread By Rats!
The skeleton remains in London I spoke about in the post below are giving us more information. Thanks to Rebecca Small who sent this article to me which states that the speed with which those who died in the Bubonic Plague could not have been transmitted...