[nonbel]

The 1918 flu was exceptional in that aspirin recently became a generic drug and the recommendation was to soak the patient in it. The symptoms of aspirin poisoning are similar to those of pneumonia (the main cause of death via flu).

>"In February 1919…Edward's fever kept getting higher and higher…aspirin…was given to him by the 1/2-handful over and over…Edward sweated through his mattress…Dr.…could not save his patient.

[...]

A confluence of events created a “perfect storm” for widespread salicylate toxicity. The loss of Bayer's patent on aspirin in February 1917 allowed many manufacturers into the lucrative aspirin market. Official recommendations for aspirin therapy at toxic doses were preceded by ignorance of the unusual nonlinear kinetics of salicylate (unknown until the 1960s), which predispose to accumulation and toxicity; tins and bottles that contained no warnings and few instructions; and fear of “Spanish” influenza, an illness that had been spreading like wildfire." https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/49/9/1405/301441