We’ve gotten through a pandemic before and can do it again
“In 1918, a San Francisco health officer shot three people when one refused to wear a mandatory face mask. In Arizona, police handed out $10 fines for those caught without the protective gear. But eventually, the most drastic and sweeping measures paid off.” – nationalgeographic.com How some cities ‘flattened the curve’ during the 1918 flu pandemic
“The deaths due to the virus were estimated to be about 358 people per 100,000 in St Louis, compared to 748 per 100,000 in Philadelphia during the first six months—the deadliest period—of the pandemic.” – nationalgeographic.comHow some cities ‘flattened the curve’ during the 1918 flu pandemic
Indeed, there were those who believed this was a “terrible new weapon of war” – as Gina Kolata, a science reporter for The New York Times, noted in her 2001 book “Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It.” According to one account, the pandemic arrived via a camouflaged German ship that infiltrated Boston harbor under cover of darkness and “released the germs that seeded the city.” There was even an “eyewitness,” Kolata notes: “an old woman who said she saw a greasy-looking cloud that floated over the harbor and wafted over the docks.” – haaretz.com A Terrible New Weapon of War’: The Spanish Flu Had Its Own Share of Conspiracy Theories
As in other cases of the outbreak of worrisome infectious diseases, Beiner observes, each country accused the inhabitants of a rival, unpopular country of spreading the disease.
In July 1918, the English satirical magazine Punch wrote that “Spain has rendered itself unpleasantly conspicuous by developing and exporting a new form of influenza.” But in Madrid, the disease was dubbed the “Naples Soldier” (the name of a song from a popular operetta); in Italy, it was called the “German disease”; in Germany, the “Russian plague”; in Russia, the “Chinese sickness”; and in Japan, the “American disease.” – haaretz.com A Terrible New Weapon of War’: The Spanish Flu Had Its Own Share of Conspiracy Theories
We are several months in right now but this could be a long haul. Our cities are more crowded than they were in 1918 and we are more interconnected globally, so there are more chances to spread the virus. The 1918 pandemic lasted 2 years with several waves and by some accounts petered out on it’s own (experts don’t generally point to one reason for the end or they disagree on how it ended). The flu vaccine wasn’t used until the 40s and was about 50% effective. The vaccine today isn’t 100% effective either. These days the effectiveness has been from 56% in 2010-11 to 29% in 2018-19 (according to the CDC); with the last 4 years decreasing every year 48%, 40%, 38%, 29% respectively since the 2015-16 season. The vaccine in the 2014-15 season was only 19% effective).
cdc.gov CDC Seasonal Flu Vaccine Effectiveness Studies
Jaylon Carter is a blogger, social media marketing consultant, former Congressional Campaign Media & Communications Director, national labor union vice block leader, and a Hip Hop artist who performs under the stage name Timid (@timidmc).
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