The Response to the Influenza of 1918
At the time, the Influenza of 1918 was called the Spanish Flu. Spain was not involved in the expanding great war (i.e., World War I) and therefore was not censoring it's press. However, Germany, Britain, and America were censoring their newspapers for anything that would lower morale. Therefore, Spain was the first country to publish accounts of the pandemic (Barry 171 and Furman 326), even though the pandemic most likely started in either France or the United States. It was also unique in it's deadliness; it “killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century” (Barry 5). In the United States, the experience during the pandemic varied from location to location. Some areas were better off whereas some were hit horribly by the disease, such as Philadelphia. It also came as a shock to many, though some predicted it's coming; few thought it would strike with the speed and lethality that it did. Though the inherent qualities of the flu enabled its devastation of the country, the response to the flu was in part responsible as well. The response to the pandemic was reasonable, given the dire situation, but not sufficient enough to prevent unnecessary death and hardship, especially in Philadelphia.
In 1918, things were not going well for the United States in the influenza epidemic. The disease was spreading rapidly and killing many. The United States was also at war, and it was a struggle to keep fighting with the disease on their hands. Germany had also been affected by the disease, and it certainly caused them a great deal of trouble. But the suffering of Germany's army was not enough to alleviate America's difficulty in fighting the war. Influenza was ...
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...andemic: The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1989. Print
Use: I will use this as an extra source to supplement The Great Influenza and get more detailed information about Philadelphia, as well as Sans Francisco if I feel it would be useful.
Secondary
Furman, Bess. A Profile of the United States Public Health Service 1798-1948. District of Columbia: National Institutes of Health, 1973. Print.
Use: I will use this for background information on what was going on during the outbreak in the Public Health Service. I will also use it to help me see what I need to research in further detail.
Primary
"Will Shut Shops in South Phila. to Fight Influenza." Philadelphia Evening Bulletin [Philadelphia] 9 Oct. 1918: n. pag. Print.
Use: This is a long article detailing the ways or plans that the city of Philadelphia might use fight the influenza.
"Partners in Health History." Partners In Health. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. This article describe’s PIH’s
In the early 1900’s the United States’ medical field was stagnant causing many deaths in wartime. The majority of deaths in war times were often caused by diseases that were incurable. The United States medical field had to grow to current needs in war but it grew very slowly. The United States Army Ambulance Service was established on June 23, 1917 and the Sanitary Corps established one week later on the 30th. (David Steinert). The Sanitary Corps quickly expanded to nearly 3,000 officers during World War I but, this field was still much smaller than any other
CDC (2007, 02) Community strategy for pandemic influenza mitigation in the United States Retrieved from http://www.flu.gov/planning-preparedness/community/community_mitigation.pdf
The Cholera Epidemic of 1873 in the United States. 43d Cong. , 2d Sess. House. The.
"Health And Human Services, United States Department Of." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Essen, G. A., "The Socio-Economic Impact of Influenza". http://www.eswi.org/Bulletin_October_1997.cfm [2] Frayha, Husn. " Influenza Vaccination: A Call for Action" http://www.kfshrc.edu.sa/annals/176/97-248R.html [3] "Influenza". http://www.caw.ca/whatwedo/health&safety/factsheet/hsfssubstanceno37.asp
...ssor Heather MacDougall, “July – 11 November 1918: Pandemic Influenza on the Battlefield and Homefront,” Lecture delivered 9 November, 2011, HIST 191, University of Waterloo
Nineteen of them were reported ill with symptoms of the influenza. Lieutenant Commander RW Plummer chief health officer for the Philadelphia Naval district. He payed attention to the situation, unlike Krusen. He ordered men out their barracks. Ordered another group of men to disinfect touched to prevent disease from spreading. But the virus had already spread and 334 soldiers were already ill. Plummer brought in Paul Lewis. He was a young scientist who loved the laboratory. He promised to achieve great things. And most important, no one needed to warn him about how bad this disease was because he already knew. So it was up to him to find some kind of serum or develop a vaccine and there was no time for scientific
Niles, N. J. (2011). Basics of the U.S. health care system. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
...influenza pandemic in one way or another; the use of quarantines were extremely prevalent among them. Also, the pandemic is directly responsible for the creation of many health organizations across the globe. The organizations help track and research illnesses across the globe. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for example, strive to prevent epidemics and pandemics. They also provide a governing body with directives to follow in case an outbreak does occur, and if one shall occur the efforts of organizations across the globe will be crucial for its containment. It is amazing that with modern medicine and proper organization that influenza still manages to make its appearance across the globe annually.
From the Chelsea Naval Hospital, overlooking the Boston Bay, I sip on a cup of Joe and browse over the Sports Section of the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, three Bostonians dropped dead from influenza. In examining the extent of the epidemic, Surgeon-General Blue commented to the Times , "People are stricken on the streets, while at work in factories, shipyards, offices or elsewhere. First there is a chill, then fever with temperature from 101 to 103, headache, backache, reddening and running of the eyes, pains and aches all over the body, and general prostration." I gaze out my window, the sun seems brighter than usual and the town more radiant. It must be the victory, for the threat of death due to influenza is pervasive. Outside, children jump rope. With every skip of the jump rope they chant. "I had a little bird." Skip. "Its name was Enza." Skip. "I opened up the window." Skip. "And in-flu-enza."
Kolata, Gina. Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Cause It. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999. Print.
The authority is who the author is and whether their contact information, credentials, qualifications and affiliations are provided (Metzger, 2010). The CDC was founded in 1946 signifying many years of experience as a well-known organization. The leadership information of the organization is available. All members and ...
I’m from Jefferson City and the closes town that the flu of 1918 hit was Columbia. This flu had a major impact on the University of Missouri students. The student body was recommended not to leave campus for visits because of how deadly this flu was. They ask the people that lived in Columbia to avoid the University and large crowds. One physician was concerned about those who had a common cold. From September 26- December 26 over a thousand students contracted the flu. People were dying anywhere from 12-48 hours of the flu. In October the mayor stopped those who lived in Columbia from meeting until they could get a handle on the flu. Only people allowed to come and go on the campus were the students in the army training corps. They figured