Contributed by Ida Milne
The influenza A H1N1 [definitely not Mexican, resolutely not pig, perhaps novel] flu has added interesting dimensions to my research subject, the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic in Ireland. For a start, people suddenly seem interested, rather than considering it a rather fusty topic. Then, there is the element of reliving history; the panic which struck Mexico City when the authorities admitted after several months of increased levels of influenza-like illness that they had a problem must have been similar to that experienced along the east coast of Ireland in October 1918 when the virus was killing hundreds of people each week. (more…)