Ever Heard of InFLUenza?

From sniffles and running noses to saliva filled coughs, these sounds fill flu season each year. Every person dreads waking up to a throbbing headache followed by a scratchy throat. As frequent as flu season is, where did it all begin?

Influenza, better known as the flu, is a viral infection responsible for affecting the respiratory system. Common symptoms include fever, headache and sore throat. While many take vaccines every year to mitigate the effects of the virus, the flu still has a mortality rate of 1.8%. Influenza is thought to have originated around the same time as agriculture and domestication began diffusing. The first flu pandemic occurred in 1580 in Asia, with an unknown death toll. During the 1700s, two more outbreaks of the flu occurred in China and Russia. In the 1800s, the first modern outbreak of Influenza created a significant global death toll, killing around one million people.

However, the pandemics did not stop there. Later in 1918, another flu outbreak took place killing over 50 million people. This outbreak spurred innovation as never before, such as the development of vaccines and their mass dispersion, the expansion of healthcare systems and the improvement of sanitation practices.

As horrible as the impacts were, the effects of the flu helped develop America’s healthcare system into what it is today. As Carl Jung once said, “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct arising from inner necessity.”