14. The Spanish Flu differed from most forms of influenza in several ways
As has been seen, during the deadliest period of the Spanish Flu pandemic, its second wave, it differed from most outbreaks of influenza in many ways. All forms of the flu are highly contagious, but the Spanish Flu was exceedingly so. It killed previously healthy young adults at a higher rate than it did elderly victims and young children, the latter two being much more susceptible during most flu outbreaks. Curiously, it also was at its height during the summer and early fall of 1918, while most flu outbreaks are at their peak during the months of late autumn and the depth of winter. It struck worldwide simultaneously when it was winter in the Southern Hemisphere, but summer in the Northern climes.
The Spanish Flu was also linked to lower educational achievement in children of the survivors in the years which followed the pandemic. Of all the statistical categories of people who were stricken with the flu during the pandemic, the highest mortality rate overall was with women who were pregnant at the time they contracted the flu. Of those who did survive, over a quarter miscarried. The death rate for pregnant women was as high as 71% in some areas, and possibly even higher, as most studies are based on those who were hospitalized. In many areas, particularly small towns and rural communities, pregnancy and childbirth were still the realm of midwives, and statistics of deaths attributed to the flu in such areas are unobtainable.