As COVID-19 grows into a global health crisis, parallels are being drawn with the Spanish influenza of 1918-19,
Spanish Flu is considered the most devastating pandemic in recent history, with an estimated toll of 20-50 million lives.
The 1918 influenza pandemic (1918-20; colloquially known as the Spanish flu) was the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus, with the second being the swine flu in 2009.
The focal point of that pandemic a century ago was India (brought to India by World War I soldiers returning home), where between 10-20 million Indians died
