Thesis

                                                                                                          "Map of the spread of the Influenza" Africa Center for Strategic Studies 2020

        The 1918 Spanish Flu was a global pandemic that negatively impacted the economy, losing billions of dollars and millions of years of life ("Influenza - Destroyer..." 367-369). The Spanish Flu was a major turning point from 1918 - 1919 (Harris). Coming in three waves, the first wave, in New York, was seen as an ordinary round of the flu. But only months later, a second and third wave wiped out over 50 million people, exceeding the number of deaths from World War I, and deaths from HIV (Poon). The residents of Europe and North America were caught in the worst surge of the flu, and the dismal conditions of the countries after the war helped the spread of the disease. Even though the tragic pandemic left the world in an unstable state, the creation of the flu vaccine influenced many medical advancements ("Medical Innovations...").