Looking back: So the pandemics hit western Sweden

In Västra Götaland, the number of deceased in covid-19 has long passed the death toll for both the Hong Kong pandemic in the late 60s and the Asians in the 50s. Nevertheless, those who became ill at that time may have been many times more than has been the case with the coronavirus so far.

Statistics SVT News West received part of shows that about 185 people in Västra Götaland died in the influenza pandemic from China which came to be called the "Asian". It withdrew over Sweden in 1957-1958 and throughout the country passed away close to 1,050. Significantly lower than that reported by the Public Health Authority so far regarding covid-19. However, the number of infected persons was higher then.

In fact, based on recent calculations, as many as 1.1 million Swedes were ill, including the then Prime Minister Tage Erlander (S). Vaccine was available, but initially not sufficient. However, mortality was not very high - at least not in Sweden or the rest of Europe. In less developed countries, the situation was different: 2 million worldwide died in the Asian world according to the World Health Organization.

Ten years later, it was again time when the Hong Kong influenza came to Sweden in late 1968. After the influenza had subsided, 300,000 infected cases had been confirmed. The number of deaths has not been accurately determined, but it should not be more than 500. In total, around one million people are estimated to have died.

- This is a flu that is still spreading every season. It causes a death toll in Sweden every year on average 1,000 elderly people, says Fredrik Elgh, researcher and virologist at Umeå University.

The first pandemic of the 21st century was the so-called swine flu. It was the first pandemic outbreak in over 40 years and hit Sweden from late summer 2009 onwards. The authorities gave all Swedes the opportunity to vaccinate.

Compared to what we can compare with today, swine flu was relatively mild. By the end of 2009, almost 11,000 had become infected, of which 26 people had died, almost all of whom belonged to a risk group.

In the world, 19,800 laboratory deaths were initially identified. But when researchers made new calculations a few years later, they claimed in the journal "Lancet" that 284,500 people died in swine flu, most in Africa and Southeast Asia.