Vaccines Aren’t to Blame for 1918 Spanish Flu Fatalities
The Claim
The recorded deaths attributed to the Spanish Influenza were actually caused by vaccines given to soldiers.
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Emerging story
In mid-August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, social media users began sharing the claim.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar's investigation found that the claim is meant to point out the ostensible risks associated with vaccines. However, the "a" in vaccine was exchange with an "*" symbol so it read “V*ccine." Facebook has knuckled down on vaccine misinformation as part of its initiative to fight false news. Obscuring the spelling of certain keywords can help disseminators of false information get around fact-checking bots. This may be the reason for using an asterisk in place of an “a.”
After reviewing the report linked in the viral claims, it was clear why some people might be quick to interpret the data to mean that the vaccines given to U.S. armed forces in 1917-1918 might be suspect. However, the information was misleading and incomplete. The multiple-page report failed to clearly mention that WWI was not the first conflict in which U.S. enlisted men were vaccinated. Also, the report argues that the Spanish flu began immediately after vaccinating U.S. troops in 1917-1918, when in fact 1917 was actually the start of the second wave of this particular influenza strain.
We discovered that there is no proof that vaccines were the cause of the 1918 pandemic. It’s actually highly unlikely considering variolation was practiced by U.S. military personnel as early as 1777. Vaccines were widely used starting in the early 1800s.
Further, the first wave of Spanish influenza is recorded as happening before 1889; therefore, it could not have been caused by the vaccines given in 1917.
