Flu Flew

poor georgie's almanack:
My family was deeply affected by the Spanish Flu virus (also known as H1N1 or Swine Flu) in 1918.  It was far from the biggest pandemic humans have experienced, yet about 50 million died worldwide from that form of influenza.  My mother was one of four sisters.  Their only brother died at age 13 of the flu.  Fifty years later the sisters still were in mourning.

People did not know what caused the flu but they were aware the virus could be carried by air. Variations of the following rhyme, a wordplay on "influenza," were repeated over and over while the girls were skipping rope in 1918.
"I had a little bird,
And its name was Enza.
I opened the window
And in-flew-enza."