Summary

In Chapter 20, most of the cases of flu in the epidemic were normal, there were a minority of cases that were so severe that Welch feared the patients were suffering with a different type of illness. Barry includes a variety of first-person accounts of their illnesses. He also indicates that because some symptoms were so unlike the flu, doctors often misdiagnosed their patients. One British scientist noticed “pockets of air accumulating just beneath the skin” (235). There were also reports of extreme earaches, incapacitating headaches, and renal failure. Patients who became cyanotic, those who were not getting enough oxygen in their blood, were considered terminal. These patients had a bluish tinge to their skin. Cyanotic patients often had blood that trickled or spurted from the mouth, nose, or around the eyes. Mental health issues were a consequence of the disease. A pathologist who...