copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2018-02-15): Inside the swift, deadly history of the Spanish Flu pandemic [...] The Spanish flu strain killed its victims with a swiftness never seen before. In the United States stories abounded of people waking up sick and dying on their way to work. The symptoms were gruesome: Sufferers would develop a fever and become short of breath. Lack of oxygen meant their faces appeared tinged with blue. Hemorrhages filled the lungs with blood and caused catastrophic vomiting and nosebleeds, with victims drowning in their own fluids. Unlike so many strains of influenza before it, Spanish flu attacked not only the very young and the very old, but also healthy adults between the ages of 20 and 40. [...] As the crisis reached its zenith, the medical services began to be overwhelmed. Morticians and gravediggers struggled, and conducting individual funerals became impossible. Many of the dead ended up in mass graves. The end of 1918 brought a hiatus in the spread of the illness and January 1919 saw the beginning of the third and final phase. By then the disease was a much diminished force. The ferocity of the autumn and winter of the previous year was not repeated and mortality rates fell.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2015-09-22): Bacterial Pneumonia Caused Most Deaths in 1918 Influenza Pandemic [...] The majority of deaths during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 were not caused by the influenza virus acting alone, report researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Instead, most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumonia following influenza virus infection. The pneumonia was caused when bacteria that normally inhabit the nose and throat invaded the lungs along a pathway created when the virus destroyed the cells that line the bronchial tubes and lungs. [...] The work presents complementary lines of evidence from the fields of pathology and history of medicine to support this conclusion. "The weight of evidence we examined from both historical and modern analyses of the 1918 influenza pandemic favors a scenario in which viral damage followed by bacterial pneumonia led to the vast majority of deaths," says co-author NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "In essence, the virus landed the first blow while bacteria delivered the knockout punch."
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2020-11-12): The claim: A study co-authored by Dr. Anthony Fauci found Spanish flu victims died from pneumonia caused by mask-wearing. [...] "And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by... wait for it, wait for it... wearing masks." [...] We rate this claim FALSE because it is not supported by our research. Dr. Anthony Fauci and colleagues did write a 2008 paper determining victims of the 1918 Spanish flu died from bacterial pneumonia brought on by the flu. Masks are not mentioned anywhere, whether as source for the bacteria or otherwise.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2020-06-02): That lesson was outlined in a 2007 pandemic preparedness study from researchers at the University of Michigan’s Center for the History of Medicine who teamed up with colleagues at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their goal: to understand how social distancing and quarantine efforts during the devastating 1918-1919 influenza pandemic affected death rates in US cities. Data from 43 large US cities spanning September 8, 1918, through February 22, 1919, showed that nonpharmaceutical interventions—a traditional term for social distancing practices like closing schools and banning large public gatherings—could prevent influenza deaths. In the study, the pandemic took a lesser toll on cities that implemented these interventions earlier and for longer periods. [...] Dr Markel:Face masks were the big thing, and there was a shortage of surgical face masks, which were then made of gauze. There were a lot of American Red Cross chapters, mostly of women who volunteered for the war effort and fashioned face masks out of gauze or linen or whatever material they had. There were articles in the newspaper about some women who wore fashionable face masks made out of chiffon. There were all sorts of stories about this mask or that mask but of course these masks were so porous, so it’s highly doubtful they gave much protection.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2005-01-12): To further frustrate public-health authorities, the Spanish flu killed both directly and by leaving victims vulnerable to secondary infections with bacterial pneumonia, which was often fatal even in the absence of the flu, particularly in the elderly or infirm. This muddled the causality picture. But because the Spanish flu had proven so stunningly contagious and pneumonia was so often found during autopsies of flu victims, the federal Census Bureau decided to use a single category in its mortality statistics for 1918: "deaths from influenza and pneumonia (all forms)" (Mortality Statistics, 1918). As frustrating as it is to epidemiologists and life-insurance actuaries, all statistical studies of the effects of the 1918 pandemic are riddled with uncertainty and approximations. [...] Despite its early concerns, the Washington State Board of Health did not impose statewide measures to combat the pandemic until it was well under way, probably because it had very limited resources and little or no control over local health authorities. The only preventive regulation of statewide application that the board issued came on November 3, 1918, when it required that surgical masks of a specified size and thickness "entirely covering the nose and mouth" be worn in virtually all public places where people came into close contact with one another; the order also required that the proprietors of stores, restaurants, and cafes "keep their doors open and their places well ventilated" and that one-third of the windows in streetcars be opened when in use by the public ("Special Order and Regulation ... ").
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2014-03-04): That soldier in the morgue was only one of the 675,000 people estimated to have died of flu or pneumonia in the United States in the fall of 1918 and the winter of 1919. For comparison: Less than a fifth that many Americans died in World War I. Globally, fifty million people or more succumbed during the pandemic. Modern antiviral drugs for the flu and antibiotics for the secondary bacterial infection that causes pneumonia might have kept more people alive, as would have an appropriate flu vaccine. But the doctors of the time—working when germ theory was still young—had none of the modern drug armament. Their vaccines were useless, and they had no idea they were fighting a virus. [...] Yet human nature being what it is, some people came out looking worse for the experience. In San Francisco, the facemask became the weapon of choice in the city’s crusade against the pandemic. The masks were uncomfortable, says Navarro, and women complained they didn’t look fashionable. By late October, all citizens were required to wear them in public: Mayor James Rolph went so far as to say that "conscience, patriotism, and self-protection demand immediate and rigid compliance." People who refused to wear their masks risked being fined and arrested, a threat that surely rang hollow after Mayor Rolph and Health Officer Dr. William C. Hassler were photographed by police at a boxing match not wearing theirs.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2017-09-26): Nearly 100 years ago, in 1918, the world experienced the greatest tidal wave of death since the Black Death, possibly in the whole of human history. We call that tidal wave the Spanish flu, and many things changed in the wake of it. One of the most profound revolutions took place in the domain of public health. [...] Flu is caused by a virus, but virus was a novel concept in 1918, and most of the world’s doctors assumed they were dealing with a bacterial disease. This meant that they were almost completely helpless against the Spanish flu. They had no flu vaccine, no antiviral drugs, not even any antibiotics, which might have been effective against the secondary bacterial infections that killed most of its victims (in the form of pneumonia). Public health measures such as quarantine or the closing of public meeting places could be effective, but even when they were imposed this often happened too late, because influenza was not a reportable disease in 1918. This meant that doctors weren’t obliged to report cases to the authorities, which in turn meant that those authorities failed to see the pandemic coming. [...] Laura Spinney is a science journalist and novelist based in Paris.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2020-04-13): In 1918 a pandemic influenza killed an estimated 50 million people across the globe, or 3 percent of the world’s population. This estimate is conservative and likely low, as worldwide systems to track civilian deaths were not in place. The first cases presented in January of 1918, and the last were in 1920. Most deaths occurred in the fall of 1918, with another outbreak in the spring of 1919. This was not the first time a wave of influenza had passed across the world, but it was by far the worst. This pandemic has been referred to as the Spanish flu. That name is misleading. Spain was neutral in World War I, so the Spanish press was left free to publish information about the spread of the disease, and thus the initial news about the pandemic came from Spanish sources. There are many hypotheses about where this strain of influenza originated, but none of them center on Spain. It might have begun in the Midwest United States, where there were widespread contemporaneous cases of influenza in pig livestock. Wherever it began, its impact was worldwide, and the transport of large numbers of servicemen certainly exacerbated the situation.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2014-09-16): This will haunt me for a long time. [...] Upon her return, there was horror in her eyes, [...] It has completely devastated us all.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2020-06-08): Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. 20 Oct 1918, Page 32 Policemen in Seattle wearing masks made by the Red Cross during the influenza epidemic December 1918. [...] - Keep a mask handy. Wear a mask in enclosed spaces, when you shop or go to the office and anytime you are in close contact with people outside your household.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2024-09-10): influenza pandemic of 1918–19 [...] influenza pandemic of 1918–19, the most severe influenza outbreak of the 20th century and, in terms of total numbers of deaths, among the most devastating pandemics in human history. [...] Outbreaks of the flu occurred in nearly every inhabited part of the world, first in ports, then spreading from city to city along the main transportation routes. India is believed to have suffered at least 12.5 million deaths during the pandemic, and the disease reached distant islands in the South Pacific, including New Zealand and Samoa. In the United States about 550,000 people died. Most deaths worldwide occurred during the brutal second and third waves. Other outbreaks of Spanish influenza occurred in the 1920s but with declining virulence.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2024-05-01): As a result of having the Spanish flu, many people died from pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses. Some people died on the same day that they became ill. [...] Some of the reasons why the Spanish flu killed so many people include: [...] COVID-19 has killed as many people in the U.S. as the Spanish flu did. But the population of the U.S. is now three times more than it was in 1918, so Spanish flu killed a larger percentage of Americans than COVID-19 has to date. If we look at the cause of death, people who had Spanish flu generally died from pneumonia and people who had COVID-19 died from multiple organ failure. Even in the case of people who developed ARDS after infection by each virus, the fatality rate was 100% for Spanish flu, as compared to 53.4% for COVID-19 because there were no treatments for infected individuals. The Spanish flu was also more deadly to healthy younger people, while COVID-19 has mostly affected people who are 65 years or older who have other diseases until the delta variant, which is infecting younger and healthier people more than prior COVID-19 variants.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2023-09-05): A study by Fauci and colleagues didn’t blame 1918 Spanish flu deaths on masks [...] "Even back to the 1918 Spanish Flu, it was shown in a paper written by Fauci that most of the deaths that occurred during the Spanish flu, were not the Spanish flu — the virus — it was actually secondary infections due to wearing those stupid cotton masks," a man claims in a video clip shared on Instagram. "So people need to be aware." [...] There is "absolutely no evidence that masks had anything to do with contributing to bacterial pneumonia," Fauci added.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2023-05-10): The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919 was the deadliest pandemic in world history, infecting some 500 million people across the globe—roughly one-third of the population—and causing up to 50 million deaths, including some 675,000 deaths in the United States alone. The disease, caused by a new variant of the influenza virus, was spread in part by troop movements during World War I. Though the flu pandemic hit much of Europe during the war, news reports from Spain weren’t subject to wartime censorship, so the misnomer "Spanish flu" entered common usage. With no vaccines or effective treatments, the pandemic caused massive social disruption: Schools, theaters, churches and businesses were forced to close, citizens were ordered to wear masks and bodies piled up in makeshift morgues before the virus ended its deadly worldwide march in early 1920. [...] Although the death toll attributed to the Spanish flu is often estimated at 20 million to 50 million victims worldwide, other estimates run as high as 100 million victims—around 3 percent of the world’s population. The exact numbers are impossible to know due to a lack of medical record-keeping in many places. [...] Fighting the Spanish Flu
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2018-09-11): In the last five camps affected—on average 3 weeks later—only 7.1 percent of influenza victims developed pneumonia. Only 17.8 percent of the soldiers who developed pneumonia died (Soper, 1918). [...] Many individuals who died during the pandemic succumbed to secondary bacterial pneumonia (Jordan, 1927; LeCount, 1919; Wolbach, 1919) because no antibiotics were available in 1918. However, a subset died rapidly after the onset of symptoms often with either massive acute pulmonary hemorrhage or pulmonary edema, often in less than 5 days (LeCount, 1919; Winternitz et al., 1920; Wolbach, 1919). In the hundreds of autopsies performed in 1918, the primary pathologic findings were confined to the respiratory tree and death was due to pneumonia and respiratory failure (Winternitz et al., 1920). These findings are consistent with infection by a well-adapted influenza virus capable of rapid replication throughout the entire respiratory tree (Reid and Taubenberger, 1999; Taubenberger et al., 2000). There was no clinical or pathological evidence for systemic circulation of the virus (Winternitz et al., 1920). [...] Policlinico. 1918, 6/30/18, 25(26), quoted in JAMA 71(9): 780
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2020-11-06): Misinformation about mask use has circulated since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Claims that wearing face masks increase the risk of infection are not new and were previously found to be inaccurate, as reported in Health Feedback reviews here and here. In October 2020, numerous social media posts on Facebook and Twitter claimed that the majority of "Spanish flu" deaths were due to bacterial pneumonia caused by wearing masks. The claim is based on a 2008 study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases and co-authored by Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases[1]. [...] Multiple experts debunked the claim that masks cause bacterial pneumonia. Davidson Hamer, a professor of global health and medicine at Boston University stated, "There’s no evidence of masks leading to fungal or bacterial infections of the upper airway or the lower airway as in pneumonia." [...] In summary, the claim that the 2008 study by Fauci and co-authors observed a causal link between deaths from the Spanish flu due to bacterial pneumonia and the use of face masks is inaccurate. The study makes no mention of masks, and no scientific study to date establishes a causal association between mask use and increased risk of bacterial pneumonia in the general population.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2024-10-06): The majority of deaths were from bacterial pneumonia,[205][206][207] a common secondary infection associated with influenza. This pneumonia was itself caused by common upper respiratory-tract bacteria, which were able to get into the lungs via the damaged bronchial tubes of the victims.[208] The virus also killed people directly by causing massive hemorrhages and edema in the lungs.[207] Modern analysis has shown the virus to be particularly deadly because in animal trials it triggers an overreaction of the body's immune system (sometimes referred to as a cytokine storm).[81] The strong immune reactions of young adults were postulated to have ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune reactions of children and middle-aged adults resulted in fewer deaths among those groups.[209] [...] - ^ "Bacterial Pneumonia Caused Most Deaths in 1918 Influenza Pandemic". National Institutes of Health. 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016. [...] - ^ "Gauze Mask to Halt Spread of Plague". The Washington Times. 27 September 1918. p. 3. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
Claim: “Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks” (Anonymous, 2020-06-11)
Evidence (2018-10-08): Historical autopsy reports and examination of lung tissue sections from 1918 to 19 influenza case material indicated that for a significant number of patients, the cause of death was not primary viral pneumonia (Brundage and Shanks, 2008; Morens et al., 2008; Chien et al., 2009). Instead, these individuals succumbed to a secondary bacterial infection, most commonly pneumonia caused by bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pyogenes (Morens et al., 2008). H. influenzae was so frequently observed in influenza patients that it was often cited as the cause of the pandemic (and was thus named accordingly) (Hildreth, 1991). The role of secondary bacterial infections during the 1918 pandemic is consistent with epidemiological observations that while influenza virus attack rates in 1918 were similar among soldiers and civilians, mortality rates were much higher amongst newly arrived soldiers (Shanks et al., 2016b). The unhygienic circumstances in the army camps led to frequent bacterial infections, especially amongst immunologically naïve new army recruits. Thus, following an influenza virus infection, new army recruits were more likely to develop a lethal secondary bacterial pneumonia than civilians or long-serving soldiers (Shanks et al., 2010, 2016b). [...] In fact, influenza deaths in Alberta continued to rise even after mask wearing was sanctioned by law, suggesting that in 1918 wearing a facemask was not sufficient to prevent deaths from influenza (World Health Organization Writing Group et al., 2006).
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines “are killing millions” (Sean Adl-Tabatabai, 2024-05-31)
Evidence (2024-05-31): COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 and various complications with the disease, and are estimated to have saved millions of lives worldwide. All vaccines can cause side effects. However, most side effects from COVID-19 vaccination are generally mild and disappear within a few days. While cases of serious side effects from COVID-19 vaccines do exist, they are extremely infrequent and don’t outweigh the benefits of vaccination.