Date of Award
Spring 2019
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department/Major
Basic Biomedical Science
First Advisor
Dr. Victor Huber
Second Advisor
Dr. Scott Breuninger
Third Advisor
Beate Wone
Keywords
1918, Spanish Flu, Pandemic, Influenza, Poverty, Public Health
Abstract
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic moved around the world in three waves, infecting up to 500 million people and causing over 40 million deaths. In areas that ended the pandemic with lower mortality rates than average, several things tended to be present. These include low rates of poverty, widespread access to healthcare, well-funded and widespread public health measures, and well-managed record keeping. Areas that ended the pandemic with high rates of mortality tended to lack the above – they had high rates of poverty, access to healthcare was limited, public health measures were unfunded or ineffective, and recordkeeping and communication were unreliable or unclear. It is important to learn from the success and mistakes of nations passed so that we as a planet are better prepared for any pandemics that should arise in the future. Being prepared involves high vaccination rates, fighting drug resistant pathogens, and acting working to lower global poverty.
Recommended Citation
Haack, Austin, "100 Years Later: An Analysis Into Factors That Affected Mortality During The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic" (2019). Honors Thesis. 49.
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/49