Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine
A hospital in Kansas during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918.
We've heard plenty of people compare the COVID-19 pandemic of today to the 1918 influenza pandemic, but what does that really mean?
On Tuesday, March 9, the Ferndale Public Library will host an online lecture by Dennis Fiems, a retired longstanding professor from Oakland Community College who can shed light on the similarities between the two pandemics.
According to a press release, "Fiems will talk about the staggering impact this virus had upon everyone’s lives on the planet, which started to spread in 1918, the final year of World War I."
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention believe at least 500 million people became infected during the 1918 pandemic, or about one-third of the world's population at that time.
Interested attendees are asked to RSVP for the lecture, which will be held online via Zoom, here. Fiems will also discuss other pandemics from the last few centuries.
The lecture starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9.
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