Editing World War I Impact (section)

== The Influenza Catastrophe ==

The war's deadliest impact on Philadelphia came not from combat but from disease. The influenza pandemic of 1918, one of the deadliest in human history, struck Philadelphia with particular severity. The epidemic arrived in September 1918, probably brought by sailors at the Navy Yard. Despite warnings from health officials, city authorities allowed a massive Liberty Loan parade on September 28, which drew hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators. Within days, the city's hospitals were overwhelmed. By the time the epidemic subsided, over 12,000 Philadelphians had died—more than the city lost in combat during the entire war.<ref name="barry">{{cite book |last=Barry |first=John M. |title=The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History |year=2004 |publisher=Viking |location=New York}}</ref>

The epidemic revealed the inadequacy of public health infrastructure and the dangers of wartime conditions. Overcrowded housing, strained hospitals, and the disruptions of wartime made the epidemic worse than it might otherwise have been. Public health officials who had warned against the parade were overruled by political and military authorities who prioritized morale and war bond sales. The dead included many young adults—the demographic that typically survives influenza—leaving children orphaned and families devastated. The epidemic's memory faded quickly after the war, overshadowed by celebration of victory, but it had taken more Philadelphia lives than any single event in the city's history.<ref name="barry"/>