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Story: Epidemics

Children affected by the influenza pandemic, 1918

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Numerous women holding young children and babies.

Though children were less vulnerable to the influenza virus than adults, many were affected because their parents died or became very ill – 6,415 children lost one parent and 135 lost both. These young children, some of whom were orphaned during the pandemic, are being cared for at the Myers Kindergarten in Auckland.

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New Zealand Herald

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How to cite this page

Geoff Rice, Epidemics – The influenza era, 1890s to 1920s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/27790/children-affected-by-the-influenza-pandemic-1918 (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Geoff Rice, published 30 March 2011.