Skeletal remains debunk 1918 Spanish flu myth; Learn | Archeology

So many people had died by then that doctors had proven that healthy people had the same chance of dying as people who were no longer sick or vulnerable.More research results were published in the non-newspaper on October 9 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show isso This may not be true.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) and McMaster University in Canada analyzed bioarchaeological data on deaths and skeletal lesions from 369 people who died before and during the 1918 influenza pandemic in the United States. .

However, results will indicate that individuals previously exposed to environmental, social, and nutritional stressors are more likely to die from the Spanish influenza virus. This has happened during the current Covid-19 pandemic and other health crises throughout history.

“Our findings do not support the idea that the 1918 flu killed young and healthy people,” study co-author Sharon DeWitt, a professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a statement. “At the same time, we are finding that this pandemic, like many others throughout history, is disproportionately killing vulnerable people.”

DeWitt suggests that the idea that the Spanish Flu caused many deaths may be viewed as popular wisdom and reproduced repeatedly in the literature, thus appearing to be factually incorrect.

She points out that while historical documents remain useful, they tend to emphasize the fate of the privileged and ignore the perspectives of women, children and marginalized groups. “Or the skeletal evidence could help us provide information about people who don’t necessarily appear in these historical documents,” he told the researchers.

For the new study, DeWitt and co-author Amanda Wisler, assistant professor of anthropology at McMaster University, consulted the Harman-Todd School of Human Osteology. This collection is not only funded by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, but also includes more than 3,000 human skeletons that are hundreds of years old.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Wiesler spent hours examining human remains in the collection. For her, it was important to point out that the victims of the Spanish Flu were real people: Therefore, the researchers looked for the names, identities, and dates of death of the individuals she analyzed. “It can be an intense job,” she said.

Wiesler searched the bodies with a magnifying glass, looking for porous lesions that indicated trauma, infection, stress or malnutrition. As a result, the most vulnerable people were 2.7 times more likely to die during last year’s flu epidemic, research shows.

Researchers suspect that, as with the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Death crisis in western Eurasia between 1346 and 1356, socioeconomic status, education or health services, and institutional racism may play a role in making people vulnerable plays an important role. Some groups during the spread of the Spanish Flu. However, you just need to do more research on this point.

These shed light on how modern societies are better equipped to respond to pandemics, and reveal potential gaps faced by scientists relying solely on written texts to understand the past.