44 At a Glance Infectious Diseases, Then and Now HISTORY TEACHES US THAT OUTBREAKS, EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS ARE AN UNFORTUNATE BUT NOT UNCOMMON PART OF HUMANITY BY LAURIE DAVIES The deadliest modern flu pandemic was the Spanish flu, which killed 50 million people. The Asian and Hong Kong flus killed 1 million people each. The swine flu killed about 200,000 people. 1918-20 Spanish fl u This fl u killed 50 million people worldwide. In the U.S., it lowered average life expectancy by 12 years (to 42 for women and 36 for men). It is so named because of Spain's news coverage of the pandemic-the fl u did not originate there. 1957-58 Asian fl u (H2N2) This fl u began in East Asia as a mix of virus strains. Microbiologist Maurice Hilleman was instrumental in developing a vaccine that was ready when the disease arrived in the U.S. Hilleman helped create more than 40 vaccines in his lifetime. 1968-70 Hong Kong fl u (H3N2) This fl u hit people older than 65 especially hard. H3N2 still circulates worldwide as a seasonal virus. FALL 2021 VIM & VIGOR