No, vaccines did not cause the Spanish flu epidemic



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“1918 The Spanish flu epidemic has been caused by vaccines”, the author begins with a brief and clear misrepresentation. Since the publication of the entry on September 24, it has been shared by almost 800 people.

Photo of 15min / Misleading publication on the social network

Photo of 15min / Misleading publication on the social network

Similar misrepresentations of the assumed peak incidence of vaccines in the 20th century. The epidemic does not appear for the first time during this pandemic. News agencies Reuters fact-checkers wrote about a similar case in early April this year.

Flu vaccines cannot cause the Spanish flu because there simply were no such vaccines at the time. Data compiled by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). shows that the disease that affected the world after World War I claimed large numbers of lives because there were no vaccines against the disease.

An additional problem was that humanity had not yet developed an antibiotic miracle at the time, so bacterial infections caused by complications from the Spanish flu were often fatal.

The text published in the brochure seeks to convince that the flu epidemic was caused by unused military vaccines, the surplus of which was destined for the civilian population. No research has been found to support such claims, and the claim is similarly repeated and without further evidence in groups of vaccine opponents.

VIDEO: Vaccination is a lifesaver for diseases at sea

More information about the Spanish flu can be found in the text of Vilma Losytė, PhD student in ancient history at the University of Toulouse in France. You can find more information about comparing the Spanish flu and COVID-19 pandemics here. You can find more information about how vaccines work here..

According to Reuters, during World War I, American soldiers had to be vaccinated. However, this was far from the first time the military had to be vaccinated. According to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Vaccination programs for soldiers have been in place since 1777.

Even more, the same vaccinations given to soldiers during WWI, were also used during the American Revolutionary War of 1812. during the war, during the war between the United States and Mexico, during the civil war, and during the war between the United States and Spain. However, nothing like the Spanish flu epidemic has happened.

Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Skeptics

Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Skeptics

Benefits of vaccines

Contrary to what the author of the publication says, vaccines are not poisons, and there is no need to look very far for the benefits of vaccines for humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vaccines prevent 2 to 3 million people each year. deceased. At that time, serious side effects caused by vaccines are extremely rare.

ULAC’s website statesthat one of the best examples of vaccine efficacy is the Haemophillus influenzae type 2 microbial disease vaccine.

Before the vaccine was introduced in 1990, about 500 people died each year in the United States from bacterial meningitis caused by the germ, another 15,000. suffered from this disease. With the advent of the vaccine, the number of cases has dropped to 50 per year.

The post was prepared in 15 minutes. in collaboration with Facebook a program to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More about the program and its rules – here.



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