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Plantings, That's the way one storyteller described his job of burying those who had died from the flu. There was a shortage of coffins and the dead had to be put in the ground as soon as possible to prevent the spread of infection. No eulogies. No choirs singing. No services. The lack of ceremony for the dead in 1918 left a lasting impression on the survivors for years to come.

I Survived, The staggering statistics associated with pandemics sometimes makes it difficult to remember that each number represents a single, human life. In this section, survivors share their intimate recollections of either their own illness or that of a loved one. All these storytellers are 90-plus years of age and they have carried with them for a lifetime their memories of the 1918 flu pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Pandemic Flu Storybook provides readers with an intimate look at the impact pandemic flu events have had on both survivors and the families and friends of non-survivors. The stories within the pages of this book are not folklore, but personal recollections from the 1918 and 1957 events. This collection of stories was first released online in 2008 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 1918 flu pandemic. The 1918 flu pandemic occurred towards the end of World War I. Despite the intensity of that global conflict, more people died during the flu pandemic than were killed during the entire war. The death toll from the flu was an estimated 50–100 million worldwide; in the United States, about 675,000 died. The 1957 flu pandemic killed 1–2 million worldwide and caused approximately 70,000 deaths in the United States.

Plantings, That's the way one storyteller described his job of burying those who had died from the flu. There was a shortage of coffins and the dead had to be put in the ground as soon as possible to prevent the spread of infection. No eulogies. No choirs singing. No services. The lack of ceremony for the dead in 1918 left a lasting impression on the survivors for years to come.

An Immigrant’s Tale, Many people fled war-ravaged Europe during WWI and several came to America. In addition to adjusting to a new culture and learning a new language, recent immigrants also had to cope with a deadly flu pandemic. Even for those who had settled in the United States before the Great War, the flu pandemic made a difficult existence almost unbearable.

War Stories, The first cases of illness from the 1918 flu pandemic in the United States were reported from Fort Riley, Kansas on March 11 when an Army private became ill; complaining of fever, sore throat, and headache. Military personnel were greatly impacted by the virus and many young recruits were dead from the flu before they ever saw combat.

An Immigrant’s Tale, Many people fled war-ravaged Europe during WWI and several came to America. In addition to adjusting to a new culture and learning a new language, recent immigrants also had to cope with a deadly flu pandemic. Even for those who had settled in the United States before the Great War, the flu pandemic made a difficult existence almost unbearable.

Finding A Cure, One of the most important challenges, for health communicators today, is helping the public to understand that a flu shot will not be readily available when the next pandemic strikes. Once the virus is identified, it will take several months to produce a vaccine. In 1918, in desperation, people tried a variety of methods to cure the sick —some practical and effective, others questionable and even amusing.

CDC Media Relations - MMWR News Synopsis: April 11, 2013