Is COVID-19 Really the First Coronavirus Pandemic?

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Headaches. Loss of smell and taste. Extended fatigue after initial infection. Frequent relapses. Cases of depression, insomnia, and even psychosis. People self-medicating with quinine. A disease which primarily strikes the old and those with underlying conditions.

No, I’m not describing COVID-19, I’m talking about the 1889–1890 Russian “flu.” And yes, quinine, the ancestor of…