Journal+Entry+2


 * Journal Entry #2 **
 * November 1919 **

Good news at last. The disease is finally dying down. For the past year, the town has been recovering from the end of the war. The New York Times continues to publish stories covering the effects of the war and the flu, so I anxiously await each new issue to be updated. The latest headline was, “**Cases of Spanish Flu Continue to Drop**”, which proves to be good news for the hospitals of America right now.  Around this time last year, the United States won the war, and for that, I am extremely proud of my country. Victory is wonderful, but it is soiled by the bitterness that was the flu. Since the first wave in April 1918, there have been two other waves: one in November 1918, around the end of the war, and late spring of this year. Letters from my colleagues have slowed to a halt, and I suspect some have unfortunately passed away, or fear the spread of the disease too much to venture far from their homes. So I now rely solely on the paper to keep track of events. Reported deaths continue to be those in their 20s through their 40s, which is unusual because these young adults tend to be the strongest. Their bodies should be the most youthful and have the strongest systems of protection against the flu. However, with Spanish Flu, this does not prove to be the case. This age group seems to be the most susceptible to the virus. Remarkably, young children and elderly are not as strongly affected by this, though only in comparison. World wide death tolls have not been officially reported as of yet, but in the US alone, rough estimates show that 500,000 people have already passed. Last week, an announcement was made on the radio by President Wilson that Spanish Flu is now no longer a dangerous threat. However, having already suffered through three waves, I fear another wave to come. I wonder at our ability to predict when a disease will end, but in order to cooperate, I must trust the facts. The next paper comes tomorrow, and I am waiting for official causes to be published that state the origins of the disease. I hypothesize that the virus’s virulence will lower substantially due to the test of time, but it’s just a thought. My years in many wards have shown me that there is no such things as certainty when dealing with this sort of situation.


 * The death toll as of now is 25 million. **