We start with the 2nd quarter death records as they did not have any of the recorded peaks of the Spanish Flu. Looking at the graph a familiar picture is displayed. The number of deaths for the under 10 group is high and falls for the 10 to 19 group. It then gradually rises until the 70+ group which has the largest number of deaths. This is a standard pattern.
What does stand out is that the 1917 deaths are the higher for all categories. This was attributed in a report from Dr Thresh the Essex County Medical Officer in late July 1918 to the increase in deaths from tuberculosis in Essex. These had risen by 129 to 888 compared with 1916. This in turn he suspected was due to the number of discharged soldiers who had had tuberculosis and were still infectious.
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