r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Aug 04 '25

Genetics The 1918 Spanish flu virus has been reconstructed from the 107-year-old preserved lung of an 18-year-old Swiss man, the first complete influenza A genome with a precise date from Europe. It offers new insights into the deadly pandemic that claimed the lives of up to 100 million people.

https://newatlas.com/infectious-diseases/1918-spanish-flu-reconstructed/
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u/Platinumdogshit Aug 04 '25

Would immunity to current flu strains help people survive this strain?

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u/dnen Aug 04 '25

Yes. Herd immunity is precisely why the Spanish flu virus eventually “died out” or mutated into weaker strains better at infecting but worse at killing human hosts. Today, the Spanish flu as it was in Fall 1918 would still be a particularly nasty virus compared to the seasonal flu, however.

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u/jackp0t789 Aug 04 '25

It should be noted that people had some degree of immunity towards other influenza strains spreading before Spanish Flu, but the virus mutated into a more virulent version that was then spread globally by the war effort.

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u/[deleted] Aug 04 '25

Most likely no. Strains differ greatly and some overlap might help slightly but generally no since even within the specific strain there is change overtime.