The Death Machine
Within two years, it killed 50 million people worldwide. It hindered the lives of 500 million throughout the world, and 675,000 lay dead from this in the United States alone. This killer became known as the Spanish Influenza. The Spanish Influenza struck at the perfect time, on the tail end of World War I. With soldiers densely populated in bunkers, the flu spread like wildfire, especially when it arrived in the United States of America. The Spanish Influenza was a stone-cold killer. Once an individual acquired the infection, within thirty hours, most would be dead. But, could something like this actually benefit Americans and their society? Most people would say that 675,000 deaths never improves a country, but in America’s
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People began to improve sanitation and personal hygiene. The betterment of having a clean society, and making cities less crowded. (Stock) The cleaner society and less populous cities made for less outbreaks of disease, more living space, and less congestion when traveling. There were safety regulations put out by state and national governments in the U.S. so that the disease would not spread. (Ott) The regulations put out by government ensured that the outbreak would come to an immediate halt, and if a new epidemic were to sweep through the states, it would be derailed. Another outbreak of influenza became prevalent in England in 1933. A doctor was able to isolate the disease and noticed how it spread. Lots of this was due to research from the Spanish Influenza, and the death toll was much lower. (Youngdahl) This new outbreak proved that the American treatments and vaccinations were effective. The death toll was reasonably lower than the Spanish Influenza outbreak, which showed improvement in lifestyle for people around the world and in America. Cities such as Philadelphia and San Francisco that had at first refused to acknowledge the severity of the outbreak now closed schools, churches, and other public gathering places. (Stock) The U.S. government took initiative and displayed their power by mandating closings of schools, and creating a cleaner society for years to