Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It [Abridged] [Audible Audio Edition]
Author: | Language: English | ISBN: B00005AAQT | Format: PDF, EPUB
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When we think of plagues, we think of AIDS, Ebola, anthrax spores, and, of course, the Black Death. Influenza never makes the list. But in 1918 the Great Flu Epidemic felled the young and healthy virtually overnight. An estimated forty million people died as the pandemic raged. More American soldiers were killed by the 1918 flu than were killed in battle during World War I. And no area of the globe was safe. Eskimos living in remote outposts in the frozen tundra succumbed to the flu in such numbers that entire villages were wiped out. If such a plague returned today, taking a comparable percentage of the U.S. population with it, 1.5 million Americans would die, which is more than the number killed in a single year by heart disease, cancers, strokes, chronic pulmonary disease, AIDS, and Alzheimer's combined.
Scientists have recently discovered shards of the flu virus in human remains frozen in the Arctic tundra and in scraps of tissue preserved in a government warehouse. In Flu, Gina Kolata, an acclaimed reporter for The New York Times, unravels the mystery of the lethal virus with the high drama of a great adventure story. From Alaska to Norway, from the streets of Hong Kong to the corridors of the White House, Kolata tracks the race to recover the live pathogen and probes the fear that has impelled government policy. A gripping work of science writing, Flu addresses the prospects for a great epidemic recurring, and considers what can be done to prevent it.
Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It [Abridged] [Audible Audio Edition]
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 6 hours and 30 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Abridged
- Publisher: Random House Audio
- Audible.com Release Date: February 13, 2001
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00005AAQT
First off, this book is some things and is not some things. It is very informative and was well researched, there are lots of footnotes at the end. Much of the chapters read as separate articles that could stand independently. What it is not is a novel like read similar to the story that appears in Hot Zone.By Amazon Customer
I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about the 1918 flu and about the modern researchers trying to find clues to what made that flu so deadly. If you are interested in knowing about that topic then I give this book a strong recommendation. If you are looking for a novel type page turner you'll probably be disappointed.
There was one situation that made the whole work worth reading to me, maybe because I have a weird sense of humor. That was the telling of two separate research expeditions into the frozen north to dig up bodies of people that had died of the 1918 flu. One team was filled with experts, used x-ray to search, spent years planning, spent tons of money, had tons of media present. Didn't get results, the bodies were too decomposed.
The other expedition was one guy with a pick. Well actually he got a few villagers to help him dig, but he spent only a few thousand of his own money and got results, real helpful results, in a couple of weeks.
I also found the detailing of a flu scare that happened in Hong Kong with a jump from chickens to humans a very interesting story. How that scare and the research that went into studying it and comparing that to the 1918 ordeal was fascinating.
There is a bit of information here about the politics of the Swine Flu panic in the 1970's and how the Ford administration dealt with it. Some of the same kinds of questions and issues are relevant today with all the threats of toxic warfare.
If you find the topic of the 1918 flu interesting and how it relates to modern day problems and solutions this book is a strong recommendation.
In this book she covers what seems the entire history of influenza, which includes the greatest pandemic in history in 1918-1919, the swine flu scare in 1976-- she even goes into litigation over the vaccine-- attempts to dig up bodies killed by the 1918 virus and sequence its genome, none of it in depth. In all of the footnotes for this book, there is not a single one for a primary source regarding the pandemic itself. No diaries, no lab notes, no original letters. There's hardly a reference to a contemporary newspaper. In fact, her notes cite interviews with a historian who wrote about the pandemic. Gina Kolata is a reporter, and this is a glorified newspaper story, expanded. Too bad. The subject itself is of interest.By A Customer
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