1928-1929 – Winter, H1Ni Influenza and Pneumonia Epidemic ~50,000
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-15-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/-
— ~50,000 Collins. “The Influenza Epidemic of 1928-1929…” AJPH, XX/2, Feb 1930, p. 130.
Narrative Information
Collins: “To get some idea of what has been happening to the influenza-pneumonia death rate during the past decade, weekly data for a group of about 95 cities have been studied. These cities with an aggregate population of over 30,000,000 are distributed throughout the United States. In order to get a workable population group in such sections as the Mountain States, some cities as small as 12,000 are included. The aggregate population of the 68 cities that had a population of 100,000 or more in 1920 is about the same as the aggregate population of these 95 cities, but the latter group is considerably more representative of the different sections of the country….
“…as measured in total mortality from influenza and pneumonia, the epidemic of 1928-1929 was almost half of that of 1920. If the excess rates as found in these 95 cities are at all representative of the country as a whole, something like 50,000 influenza-pneumonia deaths in the United States occurred during the epidemic of the winter of 1928-1929 in excess of the normal expected number from those causes” (p.119.)
“The epidemic of 1928-1929 was the most important since that of 1920….the peak of the pandemic of 1918-1919 occurred much earlier in the fall than was the case in 1928-1929…. The severity of each of the epidemics may be judged to a considerable extent by the weekly excess rates…but a more accurate measure would be the total excess rate during the whole period of the epidemic….
“The peak of the excess mortality occurred on the Pacific Coast early in December….The 1926 epidemic, like the recent one of 1928-1929, apparently started on the Pacific Coast…. (p. 120.)
“Immediately after the 1928-1929 epidemic the U. S. Public Health Service made surveys in 10 cities in the United States similar to surveys made in about an equal number of cities in 1918-1919. In cooperation with state health departments, some small towns and rural communities were surveyed in Missouri, New York, and Massachusetts…. House to house canvasses were made of selected districts with a total population of 10,000 to 15,000 persons in each of the cities to be surveyed. (p. 124.)
“Of the cases definitely classified as influenza or grippe, the 1928-1929 rate of 145 per 1,000 persons canvassed is somewhat more than one-half of the rate of 242 per 1,000 in the 1918-1919 epidemic. In the 1918-1919 epidemic the incidence of pneumonia was 16.4 per 1,000, or more than three times the rate of 4.7 cases per 1,000 in 1928-1929…. (pp. 124-125.) (Collins, Selwyn D. “The Influenza Epidemic of 1928-1929 with Comparative Data for 1918-1919.” AJPH, Vol. XX, No. 2, Feb 1930, pp. 119-129.)
PHS: “In October, the proportion of influenza and pneumonia deaths rose each week and reached 7 percent for the week ended November 9. However, there was considerable variation from city to city within the limits of 3 to 15 percent. The 7 percent is a marked contrast with the proportions in 1918 when 50 to 80 percent of all deaths in a number of cities was due to influenza and pneumonia at the height of the epidemic. In the 1928-29 epidemic, the proportions in various cities ranged from 25 to 55 percent. The low proportion of influenza and pneumonia deaths in the current epidemic indicates that mortality has been relatively low as compared with some epidemics that occurred prior to the time when sulfonamides and antibiotics were available for treatment of the complications of influenza.” (PHS, “Provisional Information…Notifiable Diseases… Deaths in Selected Cities…November 30, 1957.” MMWR, 6/48, 12-6-1957, 1-2.)
PHS: “Excess mortality from influenza and pneumonia has been reported by Dr. Selwyn D. Collins for periods of equal or greater length in 1918-19 (31 weeks), in the spring of 1928 (19 weeks), and in the winter of 1935-36 (22 weeks). The duration of excess mortality in 1953 was 13 weeks.” (Public Health Service. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 7/5, 2-7-1958.)
Sources
Collins, Selwyn D. (U.S. Public Health Service). “The Influenza Epidemic of 1928-1929 with Comparative Data for 1918-1919.” American Journal of Public Health, Vol. XX, No. 2, Feb 1930, pp. 119-129. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1555806/pdf/amjphnation00618-0019.pdf
Public Health Service, U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 6, No. 48, 12-6-1957. Accessed at: http://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/1022
Public Health Service, U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 7, No. 5, 2-7-1958. Accessed at: http://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/1042