(Image source from: rediff.com)

A 106-year old man from Delhi, who had witnessed the 1918 Spanish Flu when he was four, has won the battle against COVID-19 and recovered faster than his son.

The world health crisis is at its peak. People have been infected with this deadly virus all around the world. More than 11 million have been infected of which more than 5 lakh have already been deceased. India has over 7 lakh cases and has become the third worst hit country in the entire world. This generation has seen this one-of a kind pandemic for the first time. But there are some rare cases where people have seen two such pandemics in their lifetime. One such incident happened in the national capital of India, Delhi where a 106 year old man fought coronavirus and recovered was also a child during the early 1900’s pandemic, the Spanish Flu. The 106 year old man was admitted in the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital. He got discharged recently after testing negative and recovering from the virus. His family which includes his wife, son and other members were also admitted in the same hospital.

He is the first reported case of Covid-19 in Delhi whoalso went through the Spanish Flu pandemic which happened in 1918 and also affected the entire world just like thecoronavirus pandemic. The journey of recovery of this 106 year old patient is very commendable as he recovered faster than his own son who is in his 70’s.

Spanish Flu was a pandemic which hit the world 102 years ago and affected nearly one-third of the global population at that time.The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is no universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the US, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about 6,75,000 deaths occurred in America. The Spanish flu killed an estimated of 40 million people worldwide.

It is said that the disease was brought in India by the soldiers who were returning home from the conflicts of World war-1. The casualty count in India is believed to be one-fifth of the entire fatalities in the world. In India the first cases of the Spanish Flu were recorded in the port cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Madras and more.

The Doctors at Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital who treated the 106 year old man were surprised and amazed to see the recovery of the patients even though he was the most vulnerable to the infection. The data whether the same patient was affected by Spanish Flu is not known even to the doctors as during the time of Spanish Fu there wasn’t much documentation or hospitals. But even if he was, it is amazing to see his strong will power to recover from the deadly virus.

But, what is more, interesting is that he recovered faster than his son, who is in his 70s. So, he lived through the Spanish Flu and now survived COVID-19, hence, he lived through two pandemics. His wife and another family member also had contracted COVID-19, and have successfully recovered about a month-and-a-half ago.

The RGSSH has treated 1,000 COVID-19 patients so far. Delhi has over 97,200 confirmed coronavirus cases and around 3,004 fatalities. The national capital, at present, is the third worst-COVID-19-hit city across India.According to the COVID-19 health data, 68,256 patients have been recovered, or discharged or migrated so far.

By Deepika Agarwal