1918 was not the birth of viruses. The default theory going in was that flu was caused by a bacteria, but culture results in 1918/19 didn't end up adding support. It wasn't accepted as being a virus until 1931-36. This didn't upend the consensus about the clinical course in 1918; it was widely agreed that aside from less common cases, most deaths were from bacterial pneumonia "settling in" in the wake of the acute disease; and this is what Fauci et al. mirror in their review in 2008.
"Virus" at the time of flu's acceptance as one, as well as before, simply meant "invisible disease causing thing," sometimes with filtering used to distinguish from a culture-resistant bacteria but this was flexible. Everything was tentative, there was debate and open-mindedness. They weren't simply imagining transmissible disease in human society because of seeing things in microscopes.
Yes, I have read a couple of accounts of that too. Haven't studied it enough detail to have an opinion, but it seems dodgy.
Even Fauci says bacterial pneumonia killed majority. Remember this was probably the birth of viruses, that invisible enemy.
1918 was not the birth of viruses. The default theory going in was that flu was caused by a bacteria, but culture results in 1918/19 didn't end up adding support. It wasn't accepted as being a virus until 1931-36. This didn't upend the consensus about the clinical course in 1918; it was widely agreed that aside from less common cases, most deaths were from bacterial pneumonia "settling in" in the wake of the acute disease; and this is what Fauci et al. mirror in their review in 2008.
"Virus" at the time of flu's acceptance as one, as well as before, simply meant "invisible disease causing thing," sometimes with filtering used to distinguish from a culture-resistant bacteria but this was flexible. Everything was tentative, there was debate and open-mindedness. They weren't simply imagining transmissible disease in human society because of seeing things in microscopes.
If you look at the possibility that viruses do not exist (terrain theory vrs germ theory) than all that was birthed was a huge mountain of cow manure.
Yeah helped along by mask wearing.