Harry Edgar Messersmith
Introduction
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Images
Grave Marker of Harry Messersmith
Death Certificate of Harry Messersmith
Backstory and Context
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Harry Edgar Messersmith was one of the few cases in which the primary cause of death was listed as Spanish Influenza rather than pneumonia. Though he did contract pneumonia, his doctor felt as though the Spanish Influenza was more contributory to his death. Though the Spanish Influenza Pandemic was driven, of course, by the Spanish Influenza, most people succumbed to the secondary infection of pneumonia, making pneumonia an "opportunistic infection". This is incredibly important today, as any future influenza strain that behaves similarly to the Spanish Influenza will behave in the same way(3). Harry Messersmith left this Earth on October 21, 1918. He was the son of William Messersmith and A. Ellen Poore Messersmith and brother to John Robert, Carl Dellie, Chloe, and George Lonly Messersmith.
Sources
- Spreeuwenberg, Peter. Reassessing the Global Mortality Burden of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. American Journal of Epidemiology, ser. 2561-2567, vol. 187, no. 12. Published September 7th 2018. NCBI.
- Casto, James E.. "Deadly 1918 flu hit Huntington hard." The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) May 1st 2009.
- Morens, David M. Predominant Role of Bacterial Pneumonia as a Cause of Death in Pandemic Influenza: Implications for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 198, no. 7., pg. 962-970 Published October 1st 2008.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63037850/harry-edgar-messersmith
http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_dcdetail.aspx?Id=696761