Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 284, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1918 — FLU MORE DEADLY THAN WAR; 300,000 DEAD IN U. S. A. [ARTICLE]

FLU MORE DEADLY THAN WAR; 300,000 DEAD IN U. S. A.

Washington, Dec. 4.—The record of “flu” ravages in the United States this fall is appalling. Since Sept. 16 the deaths from influenza and pneumonia in this country are probably four tunes as many as the total of our soldiers killed in the great war. Between 300,000 and 360,000 deaths from influenza and pneumonia have occurred among the civilian population of the United States .in eighty days, according tp estimates today of the public health service. These calculations were based on reports from cities and states keeping accurate records, and public health officials believe they are conservative. The epidemic stall persists, but deaths are much less numerous, according to reports reaching here. A recrudesence of the disease now is occurring in many communities, but this is believed to be sporadic and not to indicate a general renewal of severe epidemic conditions. Insurance companies have been hard hit by the epidemic, government reports indicate. The government incurred liabilities of more than <170,000,000 in connection with life insurance carried by soldiers in army camps, not including those in Europe. About 20,000 deaths occurred in the camps in the United States, war department records show.