Spanish Flu, Pneumonia, Corona: Three British Prime Ministers Affected by Similar Illnesses

(Patria) – Boris Johnson is the first British politician to fall seriously ill during his term in the country's recent history.

However, it is less known that the legendary Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during World War II, contracted pneumonia twice during his term.

25 years before Churchill, British Prime Minister during World War I, David Lloyd George, fell ill with the 'Spanish Flu', or - 'Spanish Influenza' as the deadly disease that grew into a pandemic claiming tens of millions of lives worldwide was also called.

The Spanish Flu, which hit the world in January 1918, lasted until December 1920, and during that three-year period, it infected about 500 million people worldwide.

The Spanish Flu was not named so because it came from Spain, but because Spain was neutral during World War I and, as uncensored, was the only country allowed to report on the new scourge.

Former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George was struck down by the Spanish Flu just before the end of the war. He spent 10 days in a hospital bed with respiratory support. His illness was not to be spoken of at the time, so as not to negatively affect the morale of the population. The media used the phrase 'slight cold' to describe his condition, and his hospitalization was referred to as a 'precautionary measure'.

The Prime Minister survived, but as a member of his staff later revealed, he was too close to death.

Other world politicians also fell ill with the Spanish Flu, including French politician Georges Clemenceau and US President Woodrow Wilson.

The typical symptoms of the Spanish Flu were fatigue, headache, fever, and high temperature, characterized by a sudden deterioration. In some cases, people were perfectly healthy in the morning and died by evening.

The Spanish Flu most affected the age group between 20 and 40 years old.

Hospitals were overcrowded, but since there was no therapy or treatment, medical staff could not do much for the patients.

Measures such as social distancing and isolation were practiced, and some advice for patients included gargling with salt water.

Great Britain was particularly affected; it is estimated that it lost about 250,000 inhabitants at the time, and as much as a quarter of the population was infected with the Spanish Flu.

The exact number of Spanish Flu victims worldwide is not known, but it is estimated at 50 million, writes Euronews.