ABSTRACT
The 'flu was totally lethal in pregnant women, and all adults aged 20-40 years were particularly vulnerable. The mortality rate was higher in poor countries such as India and in the army camps than it was elsewhere in the developed world. People were encouraged to walk to work to avoid poorly ventilated and crowded buses. Institutional quarantine occurred in the military camps. In the USA, posters appeared educating the public on respiratory hygiene, hand washing and the use of common crockery. There were to be another four pandemics over the ensuing 90 years due to Influenza A virus subtypes. The first of these was Asian 'flu in 1957—58, which was due the human form of H2N2 combining with a mutant strain from ducks. Then, in 1997, the bird 'flu pandemic, due to H5N1, struck. This spread from poultry to humans.
