Research Reveals Most Victims Of 1918 Spanish Flu Died From Bacterial Pneumonia – Just Like Victims Dying From The New H1N1 Swine Flu Mutation In Ukraine

A common misperception is that most people who died during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic actually died from the flu itself.  But according to high level scientific research done over the past few years, most of the people who died from the 1918 Spanish flu actually died from bacterial pneumonia that was caused when bacteria that normally inhabit the nose and throat invaded the lungs along a pathway created when the 1918 Spanish flu virus destroyed the cells that line the bronchial tubes and lungs.  This explains what is going on in Ukraine.  Over the past several weeks, there have been rumors that the pneumonic plague was on the loose in Ukraine.  But that is not the case.  What apparently is happening is that the H1N1 swine flu has mutated and is acting more like the 1918 Spanish flu (which was also an H1N1 flu).  This new H1N1 mutation is directly attacking the respiratory system of its victims.  This attack on the respiratory system is destroying the protective cells that line the bronchial tubes and lungs, thus allowing the bacteria that normally inhabit the nose and throat to invade the lungs.  As victims near death, temperatures inside the lungs have gotten as high as 135 degrees Fahrenheit, and doctors on the ground in Ukraine have said that the lungs of these victims become "as black as charcoal".

If this new H1N1 mutation is acting just like the 1918 Spanish flu, that is a great cause for concern because the 1918 Spanish flu killed between 50 and 100 million people around the globe during the early part of the last century.

But according to the most recent research, the 1918 Spanish flu did indeed act much like the H1N1 mutation that is spreading in Ukraine and elsewhere.

According to a report entitled "Bacterial Pneumonia Caused Most Deaths in 1918 Influenza Pandemic" from the National Institutes of Health, research shows that most people did not die from the flu itself during the 1918 pandemic.....

Jeffery Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., examined lung tissue samples from 58 soldiers who died of influenza at various U. S. military bases in 1918 and 1919. The samples, preserved in paraffin blocks, were re-cut and stained to allow microscopic evaluation. Examination revealed a spectrum of tissue damage "ranging from changes characteristic of the primary viral pneumonia and evidence of tissue repair to evidence of severe, acute, secondary bacterial pneumonia," says Dr. Taubenberger. In most cases, he adds, the predominant disease at the time of death appeared to have been bacterial pneumonia. There also was evidence that the virus destroyed the cells lining the bronchial tubes, including cells with protective hair-like projections, or cilia. This loss made other kinds of cells throughout the entire respiratory tract — including cells deep in the lungs — vulnerable to attack by bacteria that migrated down the newly created pathway from the nose and throat.

According to another report entitled "Predominant role of bacterial pneumonia as a cause of death in pandemic influenza: implications for pandemic influenza preparedness", examination of samples from victims of the 1918 flu clearly revealed that bacterial pneumonia was involved in most of the deaths.....

The postmortem samples we examined from people who died of influenza during 1918-1919 uniformly exhibited severe changes indicative of bacterial pneumonia. Bacteriologic and histopathologic results from published autopsy series clearly and consistently implicated secondary bacterial pneumonia caused by common upper respiratory-tract bacteria in most influenza fatalities.

This explains why there was so much confusion during the initial stages of the current Ukraine pandemic.  There were some reports that H1N1 was killing people.  There were other reports that it was the pneumonic plague.  Others were reporting that it was just an unusual number of cases of pneumonia. 

Well, it turns out that what most likely is going on is that the H1N1 swine flu mutation in Ukraine is behaving in a very similar manner to the 1918 Spanish flu.   It is attacking the protective cells that line the bronchial tubes and lungs, therefore allowing the bacteria that normally inhabit the nose and throat to invade the lungs and cause massive destruction.

Unfortunately that makes things more complicated.

You see, it has been admitted that the H1N1 swine flu vaccine will "probably" not be effective at all against this new H1N1 mutation detected in Ukraine.

In addition, once someone has contracted the mutant version of H1N1, it will not only be a matter of treating that virus - treatment will also be required to fight the bacteria invading the lungs.

Meanwhile, California officials have just announced that nearly 800 people in California were hospitalized with the H1N1 swine flu last week alone, the largest one week number of hospitalizations since swine flu cases began escalating this fall.

While some mainstream media outlets are heralding that the worst of the H1N1 swine flu is over, the truth is that we may only be entering the next chapter.  Let us all hope that this new H1N1 mutation does not develop into a major world flu pandemic like the 1918 Spanish flu did.