Flu

1918 - how this flu spread in SA
There appeared to be two waves of Spanish flu during 1918 in South Africa - one mild and one severe.

1918 - where this flu came from
This deadly flu spread rapidly across the world - often with soldiers returning home from the battlefronts.

1918 - why the flu spread so rapidly
South Africa's many ports and harbours rendered it vulnerable to infections passed on by sailors.

1918 - South Africa's death toll
South Africa was the fifth hardest hit country in the world. Almost as many South Africans died from the 1918 flu as did Americans.

1918 - symptoms of this killer flu
The first wave of the flu followed typical flu symptoms consisting of a three-day fever, a cough and a runny nose, followed by a rapid convalescence.

1918 - who was affected by the flu?
Unlike other outbreaks of flu, the 1918 epidemic decimated not the young and the old, but those between the ages of 15 - 38.

1918 flu - eyewitness accounts
It is difficult for us to imagine what it must have been like in 1918, but these eyewitness accounts give us some idea.