April atmore magazine

Before Coronavirus:
The 1918-1919 Flu Kills Millions
10
Kevin
McKinley
For those who think history boring, or not worth
teaching or studying, perhaps they should take a look
at history's lessons when it comes to the growing
pandemic known as the coronavirus, also known as
COVID-19. As horrible as the potential outcomes may
be, the lessons of another pandemic 100 years ago
may offer lessons which could prevent, or at least slow
transmissions.
By November 1918, World War I was at an end. As
many a war-weary family prepared to welcome their
soldier home, a new invasion was waiting to unleash its
torrents upon the nation. In the early days of the invasion
of the 1918 flu epidemic many a person probably knelt in
prayer wondering if the disease sweeping the world was
one of the plagues mentioned in the book of Revelation.
The pandemic that killed 675,000 Americans and
around 5 percent of the world's population during the
period of 1918-1919 was called the Spanish Flu. Yet the
name was misleading. At the time people believed it was
worse in Spain or that it had originated in Spain when in
reality, Spain's news media had no restrictions and was
reporting openly on the flu. However, in 1918, the media
in the US and Western Europe was heavily censored
because of the war effort. Therefore the Federal
government didn't want Americans to know how bad the
epidemic had become, nor did they want people hoarding
supplies.
Furthermore, President Woodrow Wilson would not
publicly mention the epidemic out of fear of creating a
national panic. Yet perhaps if a national shutdown of a
few weeks occurred, perhaps early transmission rates
could have been slowed. This would likely have been
similar to what the US government did in the 1930s to
save the banks (banks were in a state of panic during
the Depression and the Federal government ordered a
Bank Holiday of several days to allow the panic to pass).
Newspaper reporting locally was also affected by
Federal censorship and this slowed knowledge being
available to the general public. The Monroe Journal, in
November 1918, reported that the Spanish Flu originated
in Spain and that it was no different than what was seen
in the US during the winter of 1889-1890; this was totally
wrong but The Monroe Journal was likely reporting what
had gone out on the national news wire.
The outbreak that winter of 1889-1890 was called the
Russian Flu, yet the two types of flu were very different.
The most lasting impact of the Russian Flu epidemic was
the term “Lagrip” as a nickname for the flu. Next page