Most accounts of the Spanish flu of 1918-19 deal with the morbidity and mortality rates of the flu itself. Occasionally I find mention of problems resulting in North America and Britain because so many doctors and nurses were serving in the military. In many cases, medical personnel were among the first to fall ill and die.
So what research has been done on the "collateral damage" inflicted on people with other diseases and conditions? Did death rates from cancer and TB rise because patients had inadequate care? If such patients contracted flu and died of it, was their earlier medical condition regarded as a contributing factor?
The Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan's Appendix G deals with issues like pregnancy and health conditions such as asthma and heart disease as factors that seem to have increased the chance of dying of flu. Of all deaths of women of childbearing age in the Spanish flu, half were of pregnant women. The plan also deals with management of personnel and resources, but it doesn't offer much (apart from triage) on dealing with patients who just happen to fall ill with something else while the pandemic is under way.
If anyone can provide links to information on this subject, I'll post them here with my thanks.
