Spanish Influenza 1918 Germany Research
During the World War One, the world experienced many problems and catastrophes as a result of many historical circumstances that weakened countries and caused deficiencies in humanitarian aid. The Spanish influenza, which lasted from 1918 to 1919, was one of the deadliest pandemics that the world had ever experienced. The H1N1 A strain virus affected a significant part of the global population whereby approximately 500 million individuals contracted the flu. Moreover, an estimated 50 million people died of the illness at that time. For instance, in the US, more than a quarter of the population was infected, while an average of 0.6 million victims succumbed to the disease (Ansartet al., 2009).
Germany was among the devastated nations during the period. In the country, the severity of the First World War increased the number of calamities causing 581243 deaths and weakening the country (Ansart, et al. 2009). Consequently, millions of people lost their lives, which had a detrimental effect on Germany that continued for many years. According to Pica et al., (2010), the virus was characterized by severe infection in the top and lower respiratory region, leading to fatal respiratory damages and bacterial pneumonia. People identified the virus using laboratory tests and research, which enabled scientists to study its manifestation, symptoms, and prevalence in the country.Therefore, applying investigative methods, the research aims to prove the existence of H1N1 A virus and estimate its effects.
Literature Review
Scholars conducted several studies to determine the causes and origin of the Spanish Influenza. Ansart et al. (2009) did a research of the Mortality burden of the flu pandemic in Europe in 1918-1919. They conducted the study in the 14 countries of the region and found an excess of 2.4 million deaths when the disease became a growing tendency in the world.
Scenario
The Spanish Influenza is a respiratory tract virus associated with the H1N1 flu. It is a mutation of the Bird and Swine flu that enters a human body through the consumption of infected meat. The scenario is a scientific research where studies aim at examining the virus to prove that it was an outbreak of Spanish Influenza in Germany. In 1918, there were simple laboratory examination methods that made it difficult to differentiate the flu from other respiratory viruses. The ancient researchers had to exhume the bodies and extract tissues from the lungs for laboratory tests.
The Spanish flu has a unique hemagglutinin gene that emerges due to the RNA. Laboratory tests, such as an isolation of the sputum and lung tissues from the victims, would be efficient in understanding the pathogenesis of the virus and distinguishing it from other infections. Scholars can extract the virus from patients and inject into a monkey to observe the response and symptoms. With the lack of scientific microscopes, they can identify the virus by distinguishing its unique characteristics, such as the temperature tests in laboratories, antibodies presence in specimens, and the gestational period observation. Thus, Spanish flu was different from other diseases (Krejcova et al., 2015).
Hypotheses
Null Hypothesis: The Spanish Influenza of 1918 was one of the deadliest viral infections with significant effects on Germany.
Alternative Hypothesis: The Spanish Influenza of 1918 was not one of the deadliest viral infections and, accordingly, did not significantly affect Germany.
Materials and Methods
The Spanish Flu research is a comprehensive experimental and survey research. It involves laboratory analysis of various virus strains to determine and distinguish it from other viral infections. Furthermore, sampling techniques are essential in identifying the prevalence of the disease among the Germans in 1918. During the period, it is important to take the bodies of patients as the population under study and also resort to the biological experimentation using monkeys to observe the effects and symptoms of the disease (Ansart et al. 2009).
Random sampling method would be useful in determining the sample size, which can be later applicable to experiments in the laboratory. The study will select a sufficient sample size to represent all the affected parties. The research will require the performance of an autopsy of the preserved bodies in morgues and scientific laboratories. As a result, the bodies could exhibit various characteristics of the virus in the patients (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).
RNA extraction laboratory test is a tissue examination of the virus development and mutation. It involves isolation of the RNA in paraffin-associated tissues, which presupposes the creation of the RNA lysates from the kerosene-embedded tissues. The utilization of RNAzol (Tel-Test) will enable the isolation of the RNA from the preserved lung tissue (Tel-Test) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).
The study involves injection of strains of the virus in two monkeys in a controlled environment for a specified duration to understand the symptoms of the disease. This method will help examine the gestation period of the virus and the gradual occurrence of symptoms as the disease progresses in the patient’s body. Furthermore, according to the law, monkeys are adequate for experimentation, and their DNA is closely related to the human DNA (Ansart et al. (2009).
Results
The research will estimate the effects through statistical methods, such as the mean and mode analysis. Correlation determines the relationship between the virus’s strains and patients. Also, the independent variables are the patient population and the number of deaths as a result of the calamity, while dependent variables are various strains of Spanish Influenza virus, RNA types, and their spread at the specific time during the period. The results will be presented in charts, showing the sequence coding of the RNA, tables, and line graphs, demonstrating the number of victims affected and their symptoms at each stage of the virus development. The findings will enable to develop vaccines and take measures to counter the disease in future (Ansart et al. (2009).
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The Spanish Influenza of 1918 is one of the deadliest pandemics that the Germans have experienced in history. Its severity resulted from the effects of World War I that had weakened the economy and affected humanitarian aid. Research on the virus will establish the characteristics, causes, symptoms, and implications of the Spanish Flu in Germany. Various laboratory tests and statistical analysis will help understand the issue. Accordingly, scholars should document the results in government medical and statistical journals to avoid reoccurrence of a similar scenario.
