Why didn't it work?

• ndmmxiaomayi

  20 Feb 06, 10:19

  Was reading an article on the 1918 influenza pandemic.
  
  This article wrote that streets were sprayed with chemicals and people started wearing anti-germ masks. However, it didn't help and killed lots of people instead.
  
  Why?
  
  The article:
  http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWinfluenzia.htm
• RaTtY81

  20 Feb 06, 10:21

  40 mil died from influenza
• oxford mushroom

  22 Feb 06, 04:43

  In 1918, what sort of anti-virals would they have? Remember penicillin was only discovered by chance in 1929 and of course antibiotics won't work against viruses. The masks they had might work against chlorine (German gas in the trenches) but would not work against viruses.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  23 Feb 06, 11:14

  Originally posted by oxford mushroom:

  In 1918, what sort of anti-virals would they have? Remember penicillin was only discovered by chance in 1929 and of course antibiotics won't work against viruses. The masks they had might work against chlorine (German gas in the trenches) but would not work against viruses.

  Masks working against chlorine?
• oxford mushroom

  28 Feb 06, 04:38

  Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:

  Masks working against chlorine?

  Yup...but they had to design a new mask each time for a new gas..
  
  (http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/chemical_warfare.htm)
• SingaporeMacross

  28 Feb 06, 21:55

  do they have a vaccine for 1918 flu?