Emergency Medicine

The 1918 to 1919 H1N1 influenza pandemic is among the most deadly events in recorded human history, having killed an estimated 50 to 100 million persons. Recent H5N1 avian influenza epizootics associated with sporadic human fatalities have heightened concern that a new influenza pandemic, one at least as lethal as that of 1918, could be developing.

Early in September, 1918, the United States was invaded by a scourge of highly infectious and fatal disease, which spread with rapidity throughout the country, eventually infecting 500 million people worldwide, or about 27 percent of the world population, killing anywhere from 17 million to as many as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest epidemics in human history. Known as Spanish Influenza, it was pandemic in its nature. No one seemed to know much about the disease or its treatment, and medical science and public health agencies were alike unprepared to cope with it.

In the case of the recent virus, the most ideal carrier animal is a bat or snake. Since humans don’t consume snakes and bats in several areas of the world but in some places like China they are consumed, it is suspected that the new outbreak is linked to the consumption of an infected bat. The same is the cause for other virus outbreaks in the past.

In this modern age, there are few things as important as managing our health in the most healing and beneficial way possible. The problem arises when we flush chemical, man-made antibiotics into our bodies to try and get rid of infections and other problematic issues our bodies face. If we don't take care of ourselves and take a lot of preventative measures, we have to resort to high-functioning chemicals that not only kill the bad bacteria in our bodies, but also the good bacteria that helps us to stay healthy.

Over the past several years, there has been an overwhelming amount of patients coming to the emergency department for medical care. It is essential for all emergency departments to improve patient flow by identifying barriers that slow the patient flow down and improve and revise these areas.