Second wave of coronavirus could be far deadlier if it follows same pattern as Spanish flu

As the world is still battling with coronavirus pandemic, there are some eye-opening facts about the Spanish flu that could change the way we see the current crisis. The Spanish flu that struck in the early months of 1918 killed nearly 50 million and supposedly infected over 500 million people across the globe, meaning one in every three people were affected by influenza. However, some facts about the Spanish flu that resurfaced again shows that the third wave of the disease outbreak was far more devastating. 

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According to science journalist Laura Spinney, who studied the pandemic for her 2018 book 'Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World', the first mild wave of influenza in the northern hemisphere receded in the summer, then the second wave started in the latter part of August and receded by the end of the year. Then the third wave which started in the early months of 1919 was far deadlier as scientists believe that it had mutated into a different strain and was killing healthy people within days. 

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COVID-19 vs Spanish flu

While there is no evidence that COVID-19 is mutating in the same way, experts believe that a second wave is inevitable because many countries are reopening the lockdown. The United States was the most affected country by the Spanish flu, where over 6,00,000 people died due to the disease. The United States is the country also most affected by the COVID-19 that has killed over 1,12,000 people in the country to date and rising continuously. The coronavirus has killed over 4,00,000 people across the world as of June 11 and has infected 7.3 million people. While Spanish flu was the deadliest pandemic in the 20th century, the coronavirus is the worst so far the world has seen in the 21st century. 

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(Image Credit: AP)