October 21, 1918 - War and Influenza

Mary is able to go downstairs again today but still feels very weak from her influenza ordeal and has not yet ventured outside.   In the mean time flu cases are diminishing according to the Evening Public Ledger with "only" 493 deaths from influenza and pneumonia reported in the last 24 hours compared to 606 in the previous 24 hours.  However, prominent members of the community as well as entire families are still being reported as casualties of the illness.  By the end of October more than 195,000 Americans will die from complications of influenza, the deadliest month in United States history.

The 1918-1919 influenza pandemic occurred in three waves.  There was a relatively minor wave starting in March 1918, then the most serious wave in the fall of 1918.  The third wave, not as severe as the second, but still claiming a significant number of lives, occurred during the winter and spring in of 1919, subsiding by the summer of 1919.