Bedside Rounds

In August of 1918, a horrific second wave of the Spanish Flu crashed across the world. In this episode, the third of a four-part series exploring hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19, I’ll explore this single moment in time, through the mysterious origins of the Spanish Flu and historiographical controversies, scientific missions to mass burial sites in remote Alaskan villages, the ill-fated journey of the HMS Mantua, debates about how to count victims of a pandemic, and the mystery behind Pfeiffer’s bacillus. Plus a new #AdamAnswers about that annoying yellow on blue powerpoint template so common in the medical field!   Sources: Viboud, C. et al. Age- and Sex-Specific Mortality Associated With the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic in Kentucky. J Infect Dis 207, 721–729 (2013). Oxford, J. S. & Gill, D. A possible European origin of the Spanish influenza and the first attempts to reduce mortality to combat superinfecting bacteria: an opinion from a virologist and a military historian. Hum Vacc Immunother 15, 2009–2