Killer 1918 Flu Didn’t Pick on the Healthy, After All

October 9, 2023

(Science) – Influenza tore through the world’s population in 1918 and 1919, killing up to 50 million people. One counterintuitive feature of this pandemic has puzzled researchers ever since. According to contemporary accounts and later demographic studies, a disproportionately large number of young, healthy individuals died. A new analysis of skeletons from the time challenges this notion, suggesting that people who were already frail were the most likely to succumb, as is true for most pandemics. (Read More)