only the eminent professor fannon died warned contagion occurs in a very special way and spreads faster than any other disease. but his warnings fell on deaf ears with the authorities. the hectic pace of the early 20th century meant large parts of the population were now commuting to work every day. public transportation was full. there was no avoiding social contact. remote working was still not an option. and every payment brought with it the risk of infection. in the inner cities, the population clustered in very tight spaces, the streets, public transport and markets were overcrowded. the spread of the virus was particularly compounded by the lack of shielding. by the summer of 1918, the flu had spread worldwide from portugal to russia. iceland, italy, greece, even as far as china case numbers exploded. the epidemic had become a pandemic. worse the virus had mutated and its summer variant was much more dangerous. now there were hundreds of deaths each week. a 2nd wave, much more deadly than the 1st had started only switzerland seemed aware of the challenge that had faced ah, on july