The 1918 influenza pandemic, commonly referred to as the Spanish Flu, infected approximately one-third (500 million) of the world's population (then 1.8 billion) and killed an estimated 50 million. With such a high mortality rate, even among young and healthy individuals, this acute infectious disease took its toll, erasing from existence nearly 3% of all people on Earth. But the damage did not stop there: across the globe, survivors of the initial viral infection reported "long flu" symptoms — profound fatigue, brain fog, depression, tremors, sleeplessness, and a litany of neurological disorders.
While the initial pandemic forced governments to organize a response to the sudden crisis, an epidemic of chronic illness may not raise alarms that spur us into immediate action.
