Parent Category: Advanced English Students

Category: Advanced Mini Lessons

Written by Chris Cotter

Since bird flu fears first popped up, occasional stories about the next big pandemic have appeared in the news. According to the most recent report, a virus as deadly as the 1918 Spanish flu, which raced across the globe and killed 40 million people, could kill twice that number today. And those staggering figures take into account advances in medicine, particularly antibiotics, which were unavailable in the early 20th century.

The data was compiled by examining mortality rates between 1914 and 1923 in twenty-seven countries worldwide, thereby determining average death rates before and after the outbreak. This provided researchers a clear number, allowing them to then apply the data to present population statistics. The number of deaths could jump by 184% in a given year, representing a worst-case scenario. What's more, 96% of the deaths would occur in the developing world, suggesting other issues will intervene in the death toll.