Sisters Die More Than a Century Apart From Different Global Pandemics

Last week, a 96-year-old Texas woman died of coronavirus. One hundred two years ago, her sister died from the Spanish flu. 

On Tuesday, Selma Esther Ryan died from COVID-19 in a nursing home in Austin, Texas. On April 11, she celebrated her 96th birthday. Her sister Esther died in 1918 at the age of five due to the Spanish flu pandemic. They never met each other in this lifetime. 

Selma Esther Ryan Tested Positive to COVID-19

Vicki, Ryan's daughter, told Austin's KXAN-TV that she got a call from the assisted living facility on April 3, She was told that her mother is among the five residents that were having a fever. 

She said that she watched her mother through the window over the next five days, as she got weaker each day. She felt so bad not to be able to be with her during the tough times. Every one of their family members gathered outside her window, and they knew that something terrible happened. 

According to the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office, Vicki's mother had tested positive with the coronavirus before she died, as reported by the TV station. 

Selma Esther Ryan was born on April 11, 1924, five years after her sister died from the Spanish flu pandemic. She married Robert M. Ryan Jr., an Air Force fighter pilot, on September 23, 1945. Her husband piloted F-86 Sabre jets during the Korean War. They had two children, Mike Ryan and Vicki Spencer. 

The Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Spanish flu has infected approximately 500 million people or one-third of the world's population. Worldwide, at least 50 million people died from the virus, and it is estimated that there were 675,000 fatalities from the US. 

The Spanish flu was caused by an H1N1 virus from the avian origin and had spread from 1918 to 1919. It was first identified in spring 1918 in military personnel. Mortality was high because vaccines against influenza viruses were not yet invented, and there were no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections. 

Apart from that, they did not have preventive measures, unlike how the people are advised today. 

The coronavirus, described as the worst pandemic since the Spanish flu, has infected more than 2.4 million people and globally, has killed at least 165,200 people. John Hopkins reports that one-fourth of all coronavirus infections were seen by the US, and at least 40,600 died from the virus. 

While the immunosuppressed people have more risk of contracting the coronavirus, the Spanish flu attacked young people aged five and below. It also infected middle-aged people from ages 20 to 40, according to CDC.