Comparative approach between COVID-19 and Spanish flu

Abstract

Introduction: throughout history, several diseases have put mankind "in stress" and due to the accelerated and extensive spread have been labeled as pandemics. Objective: to assess similarities and differences between COVID-19 and the Spanish influenza. Method: a literature review was carried out in December 2021. Using several Academic search engines, like (Pubmed, Google and Google Scholar). It was assessed several Articles published in Spanish; those that did not meet these conditions were excluded; 89 bibliographic references were studied, of which 25 were cited in this article. Development: COVID-19 and Spanish flu are similar for arising respiratory symptoms at first, clinical characteristic of a common cold. The earliest documented case of Spanish flu was in the United States of America and it was caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus and it´s not identified as a zoonosis, however, COVID-19 first cases were documented in China and it was caused by the virus of SARS-CoV-2, virus identified as a zoonosis that affect most commonly older adults, whereas the Spanish flu affected more young adults. It has been attributed some protective immunity to those who became ill with the Spanish flu, however, the coronavirus does not leave person with immunization levels after been infected. Conclusion: Spanish flu and coronavirus are the two great pandemics of history which have many similarities and differences from clinical, epidemiological and social point of view.