What he knew in 1918 could save millions of lives today

09 Sunday Jul 2006

Posted by mpb in H5N1, history, measures (scientific), preparedness

This is an interesting read about a previous pandemic of avian influenza. Note the impact of behavioral change on the epidemiology of the disease and why the disease would affect people differently in St Louis from Philadelphia.

It is a good example of why histories from that era (and later pandemics like the 1960s out here) are so important to record, study, and learn from. I encourage every reader to collect those stories. And to compare what is learned from the past with contemporary planning

I urge students to make use of the Alaska archives to study what worked and what didn’t work before and to let the rest of us know. Rose Speranza (Alaska and Polar Regions Department, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks, fnrs AT uaf DOT edu, PH 907-474-2791) will be happy to help point people in the right direction to start your own research. Some of the archival materials are available on-line—

The State library at: http://www.archives.state.ak.us/
This will provide lots of links.

Some of the Jukeboxes are available on-line at APR’s web-site:
http://www.uaf.edu/library/apr/ [general]
http://uaf-db.uaf.edu/Jukebox/PJWeb/pjhome.htm [general jukebox]

In addition, we are developing a photo archives at: http://vilda.alaska.edu/

Site Search Tags: history, 1918, epidemiology, archives, UAF, preparedness, flu

By Harry Levins, POST-DISPATCH SENIOR WRITER
07/08/2006

As health experts look ahead to the possibility of a bird flu pandemic, they’re also looking backward to St. Louis as a model of dealing with the disease.

The last worldwide flu pandemic – also a bird flu, dubbed the Spanish Flu – struck in the fall of 1918. Worldwide, it killed perhaps 50 million people, including 675,000 Americans.

In St. Louis, the toll for 1918 rose to just shy of 3,000. That’s a heavy loss, about the same as the fatalities in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

But among America’s big cities, those 3,000 flu deaths were remarkably low…. In 1918, nobody had a flu vaccine that worked. If avian flu strikes now, nobody will have a flu vaccine for the first six to eight months. Until that vaccine gets into doctors’ hands, public health workers are going to have to rely on what worked in 1918.

What worked then in St. Louis was stern “social distancing”….

In fact, in dealing with the flu, Philadelphia became a model of ineptitude. “They were tardy in everything they did,” says Stanhope.

Through ignorance, wishful thinking and a readiness to cave in to civic and business pressure, Philadelphia’s leaders took a business-as-usual approach. The population paid dearly….

Read the rest here–
http://tinyurl.com/zf4lv

4 thoughts on “What he knew in 1918 could save millions of lives today”

Pingback: More historical pandemic resources (Michigan archives) « Grassroots Science
kendranelson said:

2008 June 21 at 4:47 am

i saw the jesse lee home like 4 days ago when i visited seward, it was amazimg i wanted to go inside so bad! People there think it is haunted.. i think its the story behind it. i wonder why they dont open it up for tourists or something. i would love to go in there someday.

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Pingback: More historical resources, Mr Peter Nick of Russian Mission « Grassroots Science
mpb said:

2009 May 17 at 8:30 am

By December the flu was all but gone; it seemed the rate of illness was truly in decline. Many towns lifted their quarantines.

During World War I, the Spanish flu had rocked the world and, though Wickenburg was remote, it was still affected. The Miller family did not escape. William’s young wife Anna contracted the disease and died.

From the Prescott Journal Miner:

“From Wickenburg comes news which will occasion universal sorrow in this community, the death of Mrs. Anna Miller being announced as occurring there on Dec. 23, from influenza pneumonia. She will be remembered as a resident of this city for many years. She was the wife of William Miller, an engineer of S.F.P.&P., who until a short time ago was assigned to this division of the road. To add more sorrow to this home, Mr. Miller is ill with this affliction, while the nurse also has been stricken, two small baby girls are left motherless, and the once happy home is clouded by that sorrow which is inconsolable. Mrs. Miller enjoyed a large acquaintance in this section, having also many friends who will regret that one so young and of such a pleasing personality should be called away. The funeral was held at Wickenburg on Dec. 24. The attendance was large, reflecting on the estimable character of the deceased.”

My mother-in-law, Clara, was one of those little girls left motherless. The emptiness showed throughout their lives. William was left a widower with the two small girls. With Anna’s bright light gone from the world, he left the railroad for awhile and spent a year or so working as a miner. But mining was not really his cup of tea, so he returned to the railroad. He remarried and had another daughter by his new wife, Mary. Memory of Anna faded, but her stunned family would never fully recover from the sorrow.
——————–

Carol Powell is an historian for the Olmstead/Miller families. Please see the Days Past article for April 8, 2007, for more information on William Miller at Sharlot.org.

Your stories and experiences are important.

Days Past: The Miller family and the Spanish flu of 1918
By CAROL POWELL, Special to the Courier
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=68213

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