1918 Liberty Loan Parade
“When the influenza
epidemic of 1918 infected a quarter of the U.S. population, killing
hundreds of thousands nationally and millions across the globe,
seemingly small choices made the difference between life and death.
“As the disease was
spreading, Wilmer Krusen, Philadelphia’s health commissioner,
allowed a huge parade to take place on September 28; some 200,000
people marched. In the following days and weeks, the bodies piled up
in the city’s morgues. (Within 72 hours, every bed in
Philadelphia's 31 hospitals was filled. And, by the end of the next
week, more than 4,500 were dead.) By the end of the season, 12,000
residents had died.
“In St. Louis, a
public-health commissioner named Max Starkloff decided to shut the
city down. Ignoring the objections of influential businessmen, he
closed the city’s schools, bars, cinemas, and sporting events.
Thanks to his bold and unpopular actions, the per capita fatality
rate in St. Louis was half that of Philadelphia. (In total, roughly
1,700 people died from influenza in St Louis.)”
(Yascha
Mounk. “Cancel Everything.” The Atlantic. March 10, 2020.)
Though the H1N1 virus
infected 80% of the population in Spain, it seemed far away from
Philadelphia – it mainly spread through Europe and Asia, according
to information from the University of Pennsylvania Archives &
Records Center.
The virus didn't reach the
US until the spring of 1918, among military personnel, the CDC says.
As US troops came home from World War I, cases popped up in cities
like Boston.
Leah Asmelash of CNN
relates what happened in Philadelphia ...
“The virus spread to
Philadelphia on September 19, 1918, through the Philadelphia Navy
Yard, U.Penn states. In a matter of days, 600 sailors had the virus.
Yet, Philadelphia didn't cancel its Liberty Loan Parade (to promote
government bonds issued to apy for Worl War I), scheduled for just a
little more than a week later. Meant to be a patriotic wartime
effort, the parade went on as scheduled on September 28, bringing
200,000 Philadelphians together.”
Make no mistake, the
parade wasn't all to blame. Other factors contributed to the flu's
spread, including high population and poor working and living
conditions. Still, it's an example of what not to do during a
pandemic, according to CDC's Division of Global Migration and
Quarantine.
A different story played
out in St. Louis, just 900 miles away. Within two days of detecting
its first cases among civilians, the city closed schools,
playgrounds, libraries, courtrooms, and even churches. Work shifts
were staggered and streetcar ridership was strictly limited. Public
gatherings of more than 20 people were banned.
The key to social
distancing appears to be the speed to which its initiated.
Philadelphia delayed and the consequences were severe.
This
is an important historical report of the effectiveness of social
distancing and other measures taken during the 1918 Pandemic (H1N1
virus). It is imperative to apply this American history lesson to the
2020 COVID-19 Coronavirus disease. Drastic measures are in place to
stop the spread of the disease and to save potentially millions of
lives. The people of the United States must adhere to critical
instructions and restrictions that protect all citizens. No one can
imagine what might happen if large groups of people ignore the
regulations.
Understanding Parallels
to the Past
The 1918 influenza
pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was
caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is
not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it
spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first
identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that
about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population
became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated
to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in
the United States.
Like the 1918 influenza,
COVID-19 has the potential to maim and kill untold numbers of people.
In 1918, with no vaccine to protect against influenza infection and
no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections that could be
associated with influenza infections, control efforts worldwide were
limited to non-pharmaceutical interventions such as isolation,
quarantine, good personal hygiene, use of disinfectants, and
limitations of public gatherings, which were applied unevenly.
Social control measures
such as closing schools and banning public gatherings played a
significant role in slowing the advance of the 1918 influenza
pandemic in a number of U.S. cities, but their success depended on
how soon the measures were deployed and how slowly they were lifted.
Research
Research supports social
distancing. In 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(PNAS) were the first to give statistical support to the past
usefulness of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), the term for an
array of social-distancing measures such as school closures and
business "snow days" that planners believe may mitigate the
impact of future flu pandemics.
Neil Ferguson, D.Phil.,
director of the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modeling at
Imperial College London and lead author of one of the 2007 papers
said …
"We have had (as
of 2007) very little data to suggest that NPIs could have a major
effect on transmission during a pandemic; these things have not been
looked at in a robust way. This is the first indication that maybe
they would work if you are prepared to bite the bullet and accept the
inherent costs."
Nancy Tomes, PhD. relates
her research and the importance of the lessons learned from the
1918-1919 pandemic. History can teach us all valuable lessons. Please
be aware of this one and also be willing to apply the knowledge to
defeat the coronavirus of 2020.
“The influenza
pandemic came to the United States, wrote physician George Price in
December 1918, in the guise of both “destroyer and teacher.” Like
the Black Death had centuries before, he observed, influenza had many
lessons to teach, if only people were wise enough to comprehend them
…
“The Spanish
influenza arrived in the United States at a time when new forms of
mass transportation, mass media, mass consumption, and mass warfare
had vastly expanded the public places in which communicable diseases
could spread. Faced with a deadly 'crowd' disease, public health
authorities tried to implement social-distancing measures at an
unprecedented level of intensity.
“Recent historical
work suggests that the early and sustained imposition of gathering
bans, school closures, and other social-distancing measures
significantly reduced mortality rates during the 1918–1919
epidemics. This finding makes it all the more important to understand
the sources of resistance to such measures, especially since
social-distancing measures remain a vital tool in managing the
current H1N1 influenza pandemic. To that end, this historical
analysis revisits the public health lessons learned during the
1918–1919 pandemic and reflects on their relevance for the
present.”
(Nancy
Tomes. “Destroyer and Teacher”: Managing the Masses During the
1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic.” Public Health Rep. 2010;
125. Suppl 3: 48–62. 2010)
No comments:
Post a Comment