We didn’t learn the lessons of the Spanish Flu pandemic, and there is a reason. In times of upheaval, we often turn to history for a guide to what the future holds. KELLY CARSON AHLC Editorial Consultant, The Link Magazine
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n the case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the so-called Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918-19 offers us a window of what could come in the months and years ahead because the scant lessons learned at the time were quickly thrown by the wayside. With the world in the grips of World War I and thousands of American men being drafted into the military, it’s not surprising the U.S. government didn’t broadcast the fact that the flu likely would claim hundreds of thousands American lives. After all, it was a time before instant communication, before 24-hour cable news cycles, and before the internet. The only way the world became aware of the full scope of the pandemic was through Spanish media. The country was neutral during the war and free of government news censorship. That’s why is called the
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Spanish Influenza, and not, say, the Kansas Flu, where it is believed to have started. Governments and media in the United States purposely misled Americans about the impact of the pandemic because the nation was at war. There was enough fear to go around without exacerbating it with a deadly flu. John M. Barry, author of “The Great Influenza: the Story of the Deadliest Pandemic In History,” said in a recent Yahoo News article that the federal government had no plan to deal with the pandemic and instead pushed a story of calm and comfort. “Some of them told outright lies, some of them simply misled,” Barry said in the March 6 interview. “As a general rule, there were very misleading statements in an effort to reassure. The Chicago public health director said, ‘Nothing is done to interfere with the morale of the community.’ And what that meant was, basically he lied
every time he made a statement.” The first wave in 1918 wasn’t particularly deadly, though thousands lost their lives. “World War I was not only costly, it required much of the medical community to be stationed overseas. In 1918, little was known about influenza. While this lack of knowledge did not negatively impact infection control actions, effective treatment and prevention methods were not fully utilized.”Miles Ott, Shelly F. Shaw, Richard N. Danila and Dr. Ruth Lynfield wrote in their 2007 report “Lessons Learned from the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota,” published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health. When the war ended Nov. 11, 1918, cities around the country hosted victory parades and celebrations. People threw off the shackles of the war days and partied with abandon.
