Colorado Gears Up For Another Flu Season In The Shadow Of 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Listen Now
Photo: Spanish Flu History Photo
The St. Louis Red Cross Motor Corps on duty in October 1918 during the Spanish influenza epidemic.

After a nasty flu season in 2017 and another one brewing this year, doctors are again calling for anyone 6 months or older to get vaccinated.

The good news is, Colorado's tangle with the flu in 2018 can't be worse than it was 100 years ago during the 1918 influenza pandemic. It was one of the world's deadliest disease outbreaks, infecting a third of Colorado's population and killing around 5,000 people.

State epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy talked to Colorado Matters about the state's history with the pandemic, and how the name the Spanish flu obscures the fact that the outbreak started just over the state line in Kansas.