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Avian Influenza

Past influenza pandemics

Global influenza pandemics have been reported for centuries. Since the 16th Century, an average of three pandemics have been documented every 100 years. [1] The most well-documented occurred during the 20th Century:

  • ‘Spanish influenza’ caused by the H1N1 influenza A strain
  • ‘Asian influenza’ caused by the H2N2 influenza A strain
  • ‘Hong Kong influenza’ caused by the H3N2 influenza A strain.

By far the most destructive was the so called ‘Spanish influenza’ pandemic in 1918, which is believed to have claimed the lives of more than 40 million people – a greater loss of life than that seen in the First World War. [2]

Forty years later in 1957, another pandemic appeared, this time in Asia. Although it was slightly less virulent than the ‘Spanish influenza’, it killed an estimated two million people around the world. [3]

The most recent pandemic strain originated in Hong Kong in 1968–1969. Many experts consider this pandemic to have been the least severe of the three; nevertheless, it is estimated to have killed almost one million people during the 6 weeks of its destructive course. [3]

Most experts agree that the question is not if another influenza pandemic will occur but when. However, it is impossible to predict when the next pandemic will occur or how virulent the virus will be.
 

  1. World Health Organization. WHO global influenza preparedness plan. Available here.  
  2. World Health Organization. Influenza fact sheet, no. 211, March 2003. Available here.
  3. World Health Organization. Ten things you need to know about pandemic influenza. Available here. 
  • "I would describe flu as something that makes you feel very, very ill. You get a headache, aching bones, and are generally fed up"
  • "When I get flu symptoms I feel like a train has run over me"
  • "I felt very sick and, during the first week, I had high temperature. Flu was very different to a cold. I went back to work after two and a half weeks. Then I suffered a setback for another week"
  • "I run a guesthouse; flu would be a real pest for me. I couldn’t cook, I shouldn’t cook, and I wouldn’t cook, so I would need to get a lot of extra help in. It would cost me a lot more money. So flu’s a real problem, a right downturn"
  • "I work on my own and when I can’t work, I have to try not to infect my little children, so they avoid getting the flu as well"
  • "I feel a little numb, like I’m in another dimension. Because in general I have sore throat, headache, I feel all clogged-up. Usually a sensation like I’m floating in the air"
  • "Shivers, sweats, makes you ache. Last time I had flu I was off for two weeks"
  • "I think that I would probably be concerned that I would pass flu onto my children, who might not be able to deal with it as well as I would"
  • "Flu makes you feel like you’ve been hit over the head with a baseball bat. You don’t feel like you can get yourself out of bed as all your energy is drawn from you"
  • "I was incapable of working. It just wasn’t possible at all… and my flu dragged on for more than a week"
  • "I have no strength. It annoys me because I can do nothing, it seems like I’m wasting my time"
  • "Flu’s like being hit by a truck because you feel completely gone. There is no energy left in your body. You are suffering from high temperature. You’re sweating a lot and you feel really unwell"
  • "First of all infinite tiredness, then I feel like sleeping and don’t want to eat"
  • "I felt really miserable because my muscles and my bones were aching. Well, I can hardly describe it, I just felt really awful, absolutely miserable"
  • "It’s like there’s something huge treading on your head, like a deafening noise that destroys the eardrums"
  • "The fever was constantly rising – I immediately measured my temperature as soon as I got home. It was 41°C and it kept rising and I was wondering what’s going on. I was really scared! Everything was hurting and it all happened so fast. Flu came out of the blue"
  • "I always feel like my limbs have iron weights tied to them and I’m going to fall over any minute, a really stuffy runny nose and feel antisocial"
  • "I was totally dependent on others! I was incapable of doing anything at all"
  • "The real flu knocks you for six – you just don’t want to move or do anything. It’s not very nice"
  • "Not being able to go to work. Not being able to do the things I have to do at home and the commitments that I have day by day"