In March 1918, with the United States fully mobilized for World War I, soldiers at Camp Funston in Fort Riley, Kansas, began reporting acute flu-like symptoms, including aches, respiratory distress, chills, coughing and high fever. Just a month later, over 1,100 men had come down with the disease; 46 of them had died. It was the start of the infamous “Spanish Flu”—a misnomer for the scourge that likely began in the U.S.
Professional historians usually recoil from the old adage that “history is bound to repeat itself” . And yet, sometimes it does. The lesson is pretty simple. Look at what went wrong in 1918. Then do the opposite.Start with the worst example, Philadelphia, where the local government failed abjectly to meet the public health crisis. The problem silently took root on September 7 when 300 sailors, some of whom were already infected, docked in the Navy Yard.
In Pittsburgh, local officials ignored the price of inaction to the east. They failed to line up hospital space and medical professionals, despite “harrowing stories that had come from other sections of the country of multitudes of dead,” the local Red Cross chapter later observed.
Even as his city reeled with the onset of disease, New York City’s public health director waved away calls for greater vigilance, finding that “other bronchial diseases and not the so-called Spanish influenza ... [caused] the illness of the majority of persons who were reported ill with influenza.” Though the federal Public Health Service encouraged cities and states to adopt best practices, in the earliest days when quarantines and shutdowns might have flatten the curve , the U.S.
In the absence of calm and steady leadership from the top, there was no shortage of hucksters standing by, ready to profit from fear. One Dr. Franklin Duane gave interviews and ran advertisements for a fake home remedy , arguing that “the more you fear the disease, the surer you are to get it.” Dr. Bell’s Pine Tar Honey, Schenck’s Mandrake Pills, Beecham’s Pills and Miller’s Antiseptic Snake Oil also promised protection or relief from the flu.
Because America is over 50% ignorant of facts and reality. TruthBeTold
Hoping you forgot
That strain probably originated in Kansas; Ft. Leavenworth perhaps and left on a train towards Europe. The Kansas Flu
Those who fail to remember history's lessons are doomed to repeat them.
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