Based on the pandemic influenza data collected by the Ta Kung Pao, the pandemic of 1918 spread to at least 16 provinces (autonomous regions), including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jilin, Liaoning, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Yunnan. The first wave of the pandemic between spring and summer in 1918 was relatively mild, with symptoms of dizziness, headache, body heat, bone pain, cough, and mental fatigue. Symptoms of the infection in the second wave between October and November were more serious than in the first wave. Sufferers experienced more symptoms and the number of deaths reported in newspapers increased. The proposed causes of the pandemic, based on the Ta Kung Pao, were mainly focused on season changes, unclean diet, and air pollution. It was also reported from the point of view of traditional Chinese medicine theories, such as Fu Xie (hidden pathogen), Qiu Zao (autumn dryness), and winter pestilence. For the prevention and treatment of the pandemic in 1918, the data in Ta Kung Pao suggested keeping away from the patients, having clean food, being careful about living, paying attention to hygiene and medicine prevention and control. According to the data in Ta Kung Pao, traditional Chinese medicine played an important role in the prevention and treatment of the 1918 pandemic.

the Ta Kung Pao; Infectious diseases; Influenza; 1918