[LiverpoolWalrus]

...or in most of our lifetimes anyway. I'm referring to the the Hong Kong flu of 1968. I vaguely remember it because I watched Walter Cronkite almost every night, but don't recall any change at all to our way of life. According to this source, it killed 1 to 4 million people worldwide, with 100,000 deaths in the US. 1968 flu pandemic | History, Deaths, & Facts | Britannica

There was yet another pandemic in the lifetime of many Villagers - the Asian Flu of 1957. That one killed 1 to 2 million people worldwide and 116,000 in the US. Some people believe a strain of this flu reappeared a decade later to cause the Hong Kong flu. 1957 flu pandemic | Cause, History, Deaths, & Facts | Britannica

Two previous deadly pandemics in our lifetime, and nobody - especially the media - is bringing them forward to see what we can learn from them. I do believe the world didn't shut down during either of them. Perhaps that contributed to the high mortality rate. Maybe someone can confirm that. I do know my school was not closed down - I sure would have remembered that.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by LiverpoolWalrus

...or in most of our lifetimes anyway. I'm referring to the the Hong Kong flu of 1968. I vaguely remember it because I watched Walter Cronkite almost every night, but don't recall any change at all to our way of life. According to this source, it killed 1 to 4 million people worldwide, with 100,000 deaths in the US. 1968 flu pandemic | History, Deaths, & Facts | Britannica

There was yet another pandemic in the lifetime of many Villagers - the Asian Flu of 1957. That one killed 1 to 2 million people worldwide and 116,000 in the US. Some people believe a strain of this flu reappeared a decade later to cause the Hong Kong flu. 1957 flu pandemic | Cause, History, Deaths, & Facts | Britannica

Two previous deadly pandemics in our lifetime, and nobody - especially the media - is bringing them forward to see what we can learn from them. I do believe the world didn't shut down during either of them. Perhaps that contributed to the high mortality rate. Maybe someone can confirm that. I do know my school was not closed down - I sure would have remembered that.

It was a completely different world then. There was no internet - it hadn't been invented yet. There was no such thing as a portable telephone. There was no cable TV, and color TV was still new enough that many households didn't own a color TV set. The 1968 pandemic was also a "new" virus. Most of its victims were over 65 years old. The average lifespan for a man in 1968 was only 66 - so at least half the men of that age already had one foot in the grave anyway. The average age for a woman was only 74.

Compare to 2019 - the average life expectancy was 76 for a man, and 81 for a woman. Pretty significant difference and obviously it means we HAVE learned from then.

Our vaccines are more efficient now, we have better technology and means of communication to engineer medicines and pharmaceuticals. We have more access to more research on a global scale, at lightning speeds.

The media doesn't have to "bring them forward" so "we" can learn from them. We're not the ones who have to learn from them. Scientists, researchers, the medical community, teaching hospitals, pharmaceutical companies - THEY are the ones who need to learn from them. If they're learning it from the media, then I fear for the future of humanity.

[dewilson58]

Um. Hmm. Point??

[LiverpoolWalrus]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Um. Hmm. Point??

The point is that as far as I can tell, they each killed well over a million people and sickened millions more, but life didn't come to a standstill. I was hoping to discuss some theories as to why we're self-isolating now but didn't then.

OBB, I'm not sure why lifespan is relevant. Are you saying we didn't impose restrictions like we're doing now during the deadly 1968 Hong Kong flu because most of the victims were close to the end of their statistical lifespan ("...one foot in the grave anyway")? Couldn't one make a similar case with Covid-19?

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by LiverpoolWalrus

...

There was yet another pandemic in the lifetime of many Villagers - the Asian Flu of 1957. That one killed 1 to 2 million people worldwide and 116,000 in the US. Some people believe a strain of this flu reappeared a decade later to cause the Hong Kong flu. [url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Asian-flu-of-1957]1957 flu pandemic | Cause, History, Deaths, & Facts | Britannica[/url

I was in military then, and half our battalion was out of commission with it. We were young and fit, so had no deaths, but it wasn't very pleasant for many of us.

[Koapaka]

I caught the Hong Kong flu in 68 and was hospitalized in BAMC for 5 days, then released to home. Got the info 6-7 weeks later (can't remember exactly) from the blood draws while hospitalized that I had tested positive...that is how long it took to get results back in the day. Sickest I have EVER been in my life to this day. Not only felt like I was dying, WANTED to as well.

[Love2Swim]

It amazes me that people are still comparing coronavirus with the flu. Good grief!

[LiverpoolWalrus]

Originally Posted by Love2Swim

It amazes me that people are still comparing coronavirus with the flu. Good grief!

I'm sorry if you misunderstood my post. The type of disease is immaterial. The comparison here is being made with a historic flu pandemic that killed millions of people, not the relatively mild seasonal flu that we see every year. But it could have been measles, tuberculosis, ebola, you name it. The question is why are we locking down now, but not back then when we were faced with another contagious ***illness*** that was even more dangerous? Perhaps we'll never know?

I guess this kind of misunderstanding comes with discussion groups. I do find it fascinating that you focused on the admittedly controversial word "flu" rather than evaluate the rest of the message. All the best to you. Stay healthy.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by Love2Swim

It amazes me that people are still comparing coronavirus with the flu. Good grief!

All flu is a virus.
This virus is a flu.
Back in the day all flu pandemics were named after where the source alegedly started.
This virus would have been named Wuhan Flu, or wherever they eventually decide it started, but skin being so thin all over the world these days, they give it a fancy name so no one gets to upset
It's still a flu!

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

All flu is a virus.
This virus is a flu.
Back in the day all flu pandemics were named after where the source alegedly started.
This virus would have been named Wuhan Flu, or wherever they eventually decide it started, but skin being so thin all over the world these days, they give it a fancy name so no one gets to upset
It's still a flu!

Technically no. "Flu" is short for influenza, one type of virus. COVID-19 is a coronavirus, a different class of virus. Some are more virulent than others----some "common colds" are caused by coronaviruses, at the other end of the spectrum, MERS, with up to a 30% mortality rate is also a coronavirus. So they were never going to name it "the Wuhan flu".

[justjim]

OP, my guess we didn’t know how many people died during these earlier pandemic’s until after they were over and done. The technology was not available to daily/weekly/monthly to track the pandemic’s. Perhaps mediation efforts, like we have today, would have saved many more lives. If we had done nothing with the Coronavirus, let it run it’s course, it seems reasonable thousands more Americans would likely have died. I suspect many conspiracy theories will come out of Coronavirus, books will be written, and money will be made because such conspiracy writings are the type of books/articles that people love to read.

[GoodLife]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Technically no. "Flu" is short for influenza, one type of virus. COVID-19 is a coronavirus, a different class of virus. Some are more virulent than others----some "common colds" are caused by coronaviruses, at the other end of the spectrum, MERS, with up to a 30% mortality rate is also a coronavirus. So they were never going to name it "the Wuhan flu".

Dead people don't care what they name it.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by GoodLife

Dead people don't care what they name it.

Thanks, I believe I said that already. But you can use it for a small copyright fee

[GoodLife]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Thanks, I believe I said that already. But you can use it for a small copyright fee

I'm sorry but your copyright is invalid. You used number, I used name.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by GoodLife

I'm sorry but your copyright is invalid. You used number, I used name.

True, but just like web sites, I gobbled up all the variants of that statement