History repeats locally: COVID response similar to the 1918 pandemic | Local News

Mask up. Avoid large gatherings. Wash your hands frequently.

As the world continued to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, these words permeated our minds in 2020.

But 2020 wasn’t the first time county residents were told to do that. It was also not the first time the county residents had faced a deadly virus.

Howard County’s experience with the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 is almost the same as COVID’s pandemic experience, from officials attempting to manage the pandemic by closing companies and schools, to encouraging the use of masks and reviewing old Tribune articles. It was the same. locate.

One of the worst viruses ever

The 1918-1920 Spanish flu caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, infecting about 500 million people (about one-third of the world’s population at the time). , An estimated 20 million people have died. 50 million people worldwide, including 550,000-675,000 in the United States. September 1918 was the worst 31 days in US history, when 195,000 Americans died of the flu.

Over 90% of deaths in the United States were among people under the age of 65, especially those in their 20s and 30s, but those under the age of 5 and over the age of 65 were often spared. This was unusual because influenza is usually imbalanced. Kill people under the age of 5 and people over the age of 65. The clear reason why this particular strain of influenza virus killed so many young and healthy people has confused scientists for over a century.

Part of the virus deadline can be attributed to naive and often flat false beliefs about the disease and how to fight them of that era. The lack of personal hygiene and the horrific conditions faced by soldiers at the forefront of World War I lead to the perfect breeding ground for the virus.

Vaccines were not developed and there was actually no effective cure for the 1918 influenza outbreak, as influenza was still considered a bacterial disease rather than a virus.

Common treatments such as aspirin and Epsom salt were ineffective and sometimes even fatal, as many doctors do not yet fully understand that high doses of aspirin can kill someone. ..

A Tribune article, written by Dr. LW Bowers on December 2, 1918, provided county residents with tips on “how to fight the Spanish flu.”

According to Dr. Bowers, avoiding “crowds, coughs and cowards”, practicing cleanliness and exercising well were the best ways to fight the Spanish flu. But what if you realize you have the deadly flu? Bowers recommended drinking a “good herbal tonic” made from American tree roots and bark.

Like COVID-19, many big cities have issued Maskman Dates. San Francisco issued one of the strictest mask directives in 1918, requiring all residents to wear masks in public or in groups of two or more, except when eating. ..

Initially, city citizens supported this measure, but after city leaders abolished the original mandate in November last year and reinstated the mandate in January 2019, San Francisco’s Anti A group of anti-maskers called the Mask League was formed. The mask was either not very effective in stopping the spread of the virus, or the mandate violated civil liberties. After public opposition, the San Francisco Health Commission again abolished its mission.

Pandemics have had a major impact on national and global economies, with the greatest loss of revenue for the entertainment and services industries, but difficult to obtain early on for competent, virus-free workers. Because it was a pandemic that affected every aspect of the business.

Life expectancy in the United States has been hit hard. In 1917, Americans had a life expectancy of 51 years. In 1918, it fell to just 39 years old.

Influenza vaccination has not yet been invented, but the virus has raged around the world in four major waves for almost two years. By the mid-1920s, pandemics were epidemic in many parts of the world after infecting enough people to establish herd immunity.

Blockade of county problems

On Monday, October 7, 1918, local elected officials informed the public that daily life would change dramatically if the virus invaded the big city of Indiana by October.

In a tribune article entitled “The Lid Secured to KOKOMO by Dramatic Order,” City Health Officer Dr. TC Cochran and County Health Officer Dr. FNMurrary said in the hope of stopping the spread of the virus. I issued an order to close “everything” indefinitely.

Here is a list of businesses that were closed at that time:

• All churches.
• All theaters.
• All pool rooms.
• All schools, including private schools and Kokomo Business College.
• Everywhere soft drinks are distributed.
• All lodge buildings or rooms.
• All club rooms.

“I don’t like this order,” Dr. Cochrane was reportedly said. “The purpose is to include all sorts of places where the general public has a habit of gathering.

“If there is a place where a public rally is held, or a place open to a congregation of people, that place must be closed and remain closed until the city health authorities receive notice that the ban will be lifted. No. Police will work with health officials to ensure that the order is strictly enforced. “

Like the COVID pandemic, the 1918 influenza pandemic put an end to scheduled public events and political rallies.

In an article on October 22, 1918, Tribune stated that the November 1918 elections were set to be significantly different from the past few years.

“The 1918 election should be unique in the history of political contests in Howard County,” the reporter said. “This is done without any priorities like regular campaigns, without any party holding a rally …”

Again, as in 2020, the local Republican Party almost wiped out local elections in 1918, winning all but two county seat and township councilor elections.

Shutdown orders have been consistently modified for most of the end of 1918 and will be lifted by New Year’s Day 1919.

Life during a pandemic

The rigor of the October 7th order was not lost to the people of the time.

In the article mentioned above, Tribune reported, “This is the most dramatic order of the kind that hit the city, and how people provide an interesting situation.”

Businesses and the general public obeyed the closure order, at least early on.

According to an article on October 16, 1918, none of the companies violated and the community was relatively calm about the overall situation.

“No complaints have been registered,” wrote a Tribune reporter. “The general feeling is that the Department of Health is acting in the best interests of the city, and there seems to be a general spirit of cooperation.”

Howard County officials were relatively optimistic that the situation would end sooner than slowed down, but by the end of 1918, the pandemic had a significant impact on the local and global population. It became clear.

Throughout many of the pandemies, the tribune recorded cases and deaths of locals due to influenza. Celebrity deaths from the flu often end on one page, and many reports of illness and death appear on the inner page of the paper as part of the “daily events” of Kokomo and other neighboring municipalities.

One of the most tragic events was documented by the Tribune and featured by local historian Gilporter in an article on the Spanish flu outbreak in the February 2018 newsletter of the Howard County Historical Society.

Porter wrote in the article: “The personal physical and mental sacrifice of this experience was most clearly explained in detail by the story of William Riley, who lived with his family on 119½ West Elm Street north. Seven members of the Riley family had the flu. He was trapped in their bed at, and his father came to the Tribune office on November 26 to report the death of his daughter Florence. A 4-year-old child died in the middle of the night, another Tribune reported that when he was young and in good physical condition, Riley looked “pale, annoying, and completely worn out.” As the only healthy person in his home, he said he provided all the care himself. For two weeks he was so busy caring for his family that he didn’t even change clothes. “

Like COVID-19, the 1918 influenza epidemic put serious stress on the county’s hospital system.

According to the Historical Society, the county’s medical services have been “pushed beyond limits” and the county’s main hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, has become full.

Written by Sisten Thecla in 1918 and featured in his article by Porter, the letter details the challenges that nurses at the time had to deal with.

“The sisters met this challenge by going to the flu-stricken home and providing the coveted care,” she writes. “This was done despite the great demand for assistance in the hospital. These difficult days found Sister Blanche isolated in Galveston’s house. Was isolated from the patient in a pest house. Only sister Fideris on the second floor of a hospital with 15 patients. Sister Birchmans on the third floor with all patients. Like Sister Monica at night shift. Training. The help received was not available. The patient died at home. The St. John’s Mission and St. Patrick Sisters were quarantined with some of the Sisters’ patients. No one asked for help. “

Nurses from other nearby cities were hired to help fight the pandemic and deal with patient overload.

Alice Gregory, a visiting nurse in Battle Creek, Michigan, told Tribune that she had answered 30 calls in the last 10 days, featured in an article on March 14, 1919. While dealing with cases of influenza, she realized that the lack of hygiene of the county residents was a crisis in itself.

“Even in Kokomo, many people seem to value their unjustified dislike of soap and water, and this is one of the main things that visiting nurses have to deal with,” the reporter wrote.

By December 31, 2018, the Tribune reported that about 200 people in Howard County had died from the Spanish flu, but in the same article, the flu was still completely “stamped out” from the community. It says it hasn’t left it. Perhaps the county’s death toll was over 200.

History repeats

That may be a cliché, but history has largely recurred in how the county and health authorities fought and the population responded to both the 1918 flu and the COVID pandemic.

Mr Porter said he was impressed by the many similarities between the way cities and states fought the virus epidemic. This proved to be a daunting task for both then and present officials.

“They also fought the virus at what they had, the mask and social distance,” Porter said. “The unpredictable nature of them made decision-making difficult. [health officials in 1918] You probably guessed a lot about yourself. “

In both cases, authorities faced a crisis of a scale that could not be addressed in their lifetime.

In both cases, the public was told that the way to fight the virus was to stay indoors, avoid large gatherings, wear masks and wash hands.

In both cases, the shutdown was very strict at first, but was early on with optimism that the virus gradually eased over the months and the virus did not last for more than a few months.

In both cases, hundreds of counties died. As of Thursday, 120 people in Howard County were killed by COVID, and deaths are increasing almost every day, according to the Indiana Department of Health.

The Spanish flu has transformed society not only while infecting the world’s population, but also in the years since herd immunity was achieved.

After the pandemic subsided, countries put more emphasis on public health, increased quality and number of services, and led to new developments in health care. This special emphasis provided a better understanding of the influenza virus and how to treat it, and the first influenza vaccine was created and used in the 1940s.

With the first RNA vaccines used in humans already deployed for COVID-19, current pandemics may also change the way we fight infectious diseases.