Twilight History Lesson
May 4th, 2009 | By Krystal | Category: Featured Articles, Movie News
Wondering what the swine flu and Twilight have in common? Here is a little history lesson, thanks to Twilight Novel Novice!
“You’ve probably heard all about the H1N1 flu virus (aka “Swine Flu”) in the news lately. Back in 1918, the H1N1 had another name … the Spanish Influenza. That’s right — the very same illness Edward Cullen was dying of when Carlisle found him and turned him into a vampire.
The Spanish Influenza outbreak was a global outbreak — from 1918 to 1920. It killed as many as 100,000,000 people worldwide.”
that is very interesting to know…
i wonder if someone would get the swine flu (probably would die), BUT Carisle would come and save him/her… then he or she would turn into a vampire 🙂
Wow – is it wrong of me to love that?
okay.
now i believe im too obbsessed…
i want to get swine flu so a fictional vampire can come and save me (:
haha. ya
Does it make me a horrible person to be really excited right now?
H1N1 is not the same as the spanish flu,
all it is is a hightened common flu, it is not as large as the spanish flu plus we are so much more advanced now its not like it will do the damage that the spanish flu did back in the day.
saying that i am still scared of getting it 😛
haha
this is gonna sound wierd, but edward cullen helped me on a history test recently. it was a question about spanish influenza outbreak and what year was it in?
hmmm…….edward cullen died from spanish influenza…..in 1918!
lol thanks stephenie meyer!
that is really weird! oh well, maybe if we all get sick carlisle can come and change us! 🙂 hehe
woah. this is really wrong to say, but that’s pretty freakin’ cool.
As soon as Iheard about the H1N1I of that!
omg thats soo cool
but my mom dosent belive me
Wow. That was such a coincidence. Weird. But seriously, doctors have the meds ready for June or something, so no need. Carlisle can’t come save us, sadly. *sighs*
omg i will get it if i can become a vampire along with it to save me!!!!
From Wikipedia:
Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, also known as A(H1N1), is a subtype of influenzavirus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans, including the strain(s) responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic which killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Less virulent H1N1 strains still exist in the wild today, worldwide, causing a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a large fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused roughly half of all flu infections in 2006.[1] Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs and in birds.
In March and April 2009, hundreds of laboratory-confirmed infections and a number of deaths were caused by an outbreak of a new strain of H1N1.[2]
Spanish flu
Main article: 1918 flu pandemic
The Spanish flu, also known as La Gripe Española, or La Pesadilla, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza, a viral infectious disease, that killed some 50 million to 100 million people worldwide over about a year in 1918 and 1919. It is thought to be one of the most deadly pandemics in human history. It was caused by the H1N1 type of influenza virus.[5]
The Spanish flu caused an unusual number of deaths because it may have caused a cytokine storm in the body.[6][7] (The recent epidemic of bird flu, also an Influenza A virus, had a similar effect.)[8] The Spanish flu virus infected lung cells, leading to overstimulation of the immune system via release of cytokines into the lung tissue. This leads to extensive leukocyte migration towards the lungs, causing destruction of lung tissue and secretion of liquid into the organ. This makes it difficult for the patient to breathe. In contrast to other pandemics, which mostly kill the old and the very young, the 1918 pandemic killed unusual numbers of young adults, which may have been due to their healthy immune systems being able to mount a very strong and damaging response to the infection.[3]
The term “Spanish” flu was coined because Spain was at the time the only European country where the press were printing reports of the outbreak, which had killed thousands in the armies fighting the First World War. Other countries suppressed the news in order to protect morale.[9]
Also from Wikipedia (“1918 flu pandemic”):
The 1918 flu pandemic (commonly referred to by the misnomer Spanish flu) was an influenza pandemic that spread to nearly every part of the world. It was caused by an unusually virulent and deadly Influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1.
And from the CDC Website (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no01/05-0979.htm), Emerging Infectious Diseases, “1918 Influenza – The Mother of All Pandemics”: The impact of this pandemic was not limited to 1918–1919. All influenza A pandemics since that time, and indeed almost all cases of influenza A worldwide (excepting human infections from avian viruses such as H5N1 and H7N7), have been caused by descendants of the 1918 virus, including “drifted” H1N1 viruses and reassorted H2N2 and H3N2 viruses.
even tho swine flu and influenze are scary and deathly…
thats frikin kool!
and ide liek dr cullen to come and help us so were not sick anymore =)
Haha.. Yeah, I recognized it too, when they talked about it on the news.. ( ;
Okay. Now I want to get the “Spanish influenza”. Maybe some vampire will come along…. 😉
The only up-side to catching the swine flu is that a HOT vampire would save you and let you join his/her coven!!!!!!
If you’re interested in all the history that’s IN the Twilight Saga, you might want to check out a new book, “Twilight and History” that I’m publishing with Wiley & Sons this April.
Written by historians who are also Twilight fans, the book tells you much more about the history of the Volturi and their region; about what Carlisle would have experienced, growing up in 17th century London; more about the history of the Quileute people; what life was like for Jasper in the Confederate Army; the sort of treatment Alice probably received in asylums during that period, and much more.
Check the table of contents out at: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470581786,descCd-tableOfContents.html
It’s now available for pre-order at Amazon, too.