[rst]

The last flu epidemic with a major death toll was the pandemic of 1918, which is estimated to have killed more people than World War I. A less deadly version of the same strain was officially listed as an epidemic in 2009.

[Pxtl]

Stomache flu, which is the symptom gastroenteritis, is unrelated to influenza. It's a misnomer. So the Spanish Flu is not a good example here.

And to the point, we've never successfully "beat" GI because the stakes were never this high.