The 1918 Flu Pandemic

Right now we are in the midst of the Coronavirus (Covid-19). Starting in mid-March, it started impacting our daily lives, how we gather, shop, and work. For my family, March 13 was the last time we gathered together in our home with our children and grandchildren for our Friday night tradition of homemade pizza followed by game night. Our daughter and our three grandchildren have only visited, always outside, just a handful of times since that date. Our son's family socially distanced for two and one-half months before letting us into their "bubble." So how does Covid-19 compare to the 1918 Flu Pandemic?

Both the 1918 virus and Covid-119 were "novel" virus, meaning it was brand new. No one had immunity to it and it was highly infectious, spreading through respiratory droplets.

The deadly 1918 virus seemed to first appear in Haskell County, Kansas, where newly mustered soldiers spread it to Camp Funston, Kansas in February 1918. Because of the gathering of men from across the country into such close quarters, this seemed to galvanize the flu. By the spring of 1918, 24 of the 36 largest army camps suffered outbreaks, and 30 of the 50 largest cities also saw outbreaks. The 30 largest cities were all close to Army bases. The 1918 flu pandemic hit in three waves: spring of 1918, fall of 1918, and the winter and spring of 1919. 

It struck Philadelphia with a vengeance in September 1918, quickly overwhelming the city's ability to deal with the dead. This second wave was dramatically worse. It could set in suddenly, killing patients within days or even hours after symptoms began. The virus would cause their lungs to fill with fluid and lack of oxygen would turn their skin blue and they would suffocate. Like Covic-19, this flu was a hot political subject in the United States. Some cities became ghost towns except for the municipal workers in masks. In most areas, gathering places from schools to saloons were shuttered and public meeting banned. This flu hit many in the prime of their life, with half the U.S. dead between the ages of 16 and 40. 

The cycle of infection in each locale typically ran from six to eight weeks; then the incidence of flu dropped off sharply. As survivors gained immunity and the killer virus mutated, the pandemic burned itself out. In Philadelphia, where 4,597 people died from the disease in one October week, influenza had all but vanished by Armistice Day less than a month later.

During this time, the U.S. was getting involved in World War I. Young men were being sent off in parades. Women were starting Red Cross chapters and making bandages and such, sending their men off in a proper way. It was all very patriotic and the pandemic became mixed in with the patriotic fever. 

In 1918 people were told to wash their hands, don't cough on people, stay at home, stay away from other people. It was the patriotic thing to do to not cough on people and stay home if you were sick. Some U.S. cities implemented mandates, describing them as a symbol of "wartime patriotism." 

This flu was sometimes referred to as the Spanish flu in newspapers even though the first known case was reported at an army base in Kansas.

It has been reported that then-President Woodrow Wilson downplayed the virus. President Wilson later contracted the virus.