Dr Paul Turner Influenza

In the early 1900’s medicine was making some steps closer into some great improvements for health and better understanding of the human body. Doctors with sufficient knowledge of the human body and cures for diseases and viruses were scarce. People were much more concerned with government and politics, than health and medicine, until one of the greatest and most grotesque lethal pandemics that’s struck the earth in human history. This pandemic the “Spanish Flu” spread so rapidly and had an extremely high mortality rate. This was caused by the close contact of humans and poor cleanliness and sanitation, and the host (virus) and the body taking harsh action

In the early 20th century, when the influenza was barely spreading, many people had a negative feeling, they felt fear, therefore, it led to many responses. In some cases, people responded with religious measures, as they believed it was a message from God, therefore, their actions toward the epidemic were guided by their religion.

The book “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, written by John M. Barry, covers the progression of the Spanish influenza, especially in the United States. Barry focuses not only on the influenza itself, though, but also on the social influences that allowed the virus to flourish. The book covers how medical practices in the United States had risen up just in time to combat the virus, but, due to societal issues and the war, the doctors struggled in areas where they should have been successful.

This paper will discuss the communicable disease influenza. It will discuss the causes, symptoms, and treatments, as well as the demographics of interest. It will also discuss the determinants of health and how these factors contribute to the development of influenza. Included in this paper will be information on host, agent, and environmental factors. Lastly it will explain the role of the community health nurse in caring for those affected with influenza and the role they play in education and prevention.

In the ten months between September 1918 and June 1919, 675,000 Americans died of influenza and pneumonia. When compared to the number of Americans killed in combat in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam combined- 423,000- it becomes apparent that the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919 was far more deadly than the war which it accompanied. (Crosby, 206-207) The United States and the rest of the world had been exposed to such epidemics in the past, but never at such a severe cost in human life.

One of the few cures to the disease was a vaccine created by teams of doctors at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. In partnership with those at Mercy hospitals in Mason City the vaccines developed weakened the germs in the disease at the base. The only problem facing this vaccine is that it was not a preventable vaccine, but rather you had to catch the flu before being treated. This often caused many problems because at the time of infection it was nearly too late for survival. By the 1920’s the largest influenza epidemic in United States history had come to an end. Not real cure was ever found, and the cause of the diseases spreading still remains a mystery in

The United states faced one of the deadliest epidemics in US history from 1918-1919, killing nearly 675,000 americans. When it first started, it killed nearly half the US soldiers who fought in the war. By August of 1918, Philadelphia and Boston were already infected by influenza. Then by October 1919, influenza had killed nearly 200,000 americans.

The book The Great Influenza by John Barry takes us back to arguably one of the greatest medical disasters in human history, the book focuses on the influenza pandemic which took place in the year 1918. The world was at war in the First World War and with everyone preoccupied with happenings in Europe and winning the war, the influenza pandemic struck when the human race was least ready and most distracted by happenings all over the world. In total the influenza pandemic killed over a hundred million people on a global scale, clearly more than most of the deadliest diseases in modern times. John Barry leaves little to imagination in his book as he gives a vivid description of the influenza pandemic of 1918 and exactly how this pandemic affected the human race. The book clearly outlines the human activities that more or less handed the human race to the influenza on a silver platter. “There was a war on, a war we had to win” (Barry, p.337). An element of focus in the book is the political happenings back at the time not only in the United States of America but also all over the world and how politicians playing politics set the way for perhaps the greatest pandemic in human history to massacre millions of people. The book also takes an evaluator look at the available medical installations and technological proficiencies and how the influenza pandemic has affected medicine all over the world.

People are misled to believe that flu-related deaths are based on body counts, lab tests or autopsies. Shockingly, the numbers of flu deaths are based on a statistical guess and assumptions made from a computer model (Growe). Dr. Michael Gardam, director of the infection prevention and control unit at the University Health Network in Toronto and Dr. Tom Jefferson, a researcher with the Cochrane Collaboration were interviewed by a CBC News reported Kelly Growe. Both doctors stated that the computer model is unreliable and is nothing more than guesswork that is far from the truth. Dr. Michael Graham supported his statement by explaining how “one model counts all respiratory and circulatory deaths - that’s death from heart and lung failure - as flu deaths. Deaths from pneumonia, even though not all pneumonia is caused by flu” are categorized within the model as flu deaths during the flu season. Ironically, according to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “people who caught the Spanish flu in 1918(the world’s worst pandemic flu in history that lead to 20 million deaths worldwide) did not die from it, but from the complications caused by bacteria, such as pneumonia” (“Pandemic Flu History”). Statistics Canada stated that there were about 300 influenza-related deaths each year between 2000 and 2008. Following the flu pandemic, H1N1 hit in 2009, the final count of flu-related deaths among 34

Then, in the fall of 1918, influenza struck. People everywhere fell victim to the Spanish flu, dying of uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs and caused the patients to drown (Crane 1). Estimates say that approximately 20 to 40 percent of the world’s population became ill, and the worldwide death toll was around 20 to 40 million (“NVPO” 2). Around 675,000 people died in America alone (Crane 5). The Spanish flu struck quickly; you could feel well in the morning, get sick by noon, and be dead by nightfall (“NVPO” 2). The doctors were unable to cure the Spanish flu, so the people resorted to superstitious practices, such as wearing a

The military strategies and decisions of the United States Military made the Spanish Influenza a disastrous and widespread epidemic from 1918 to 1919, which infected approximately one third of the world’s population (around 500 million people) and killed around 50 million. [1][2] In comparison, World War I only claimed an estimated 16 million life. [4][5][6][7]The flu killed more than war itself. [3] There were three waves of Spanish flu, which occurred in 1918 spring, 1918 fall and 1919 spring. The first and third one were relatively mild, but the second one was far more severe, causing death within hours or a few days. [8][9]However, it was not a coincidence for the epidemic and the

The first wave of the 1918 pandemic appeared in San Sebastián, Spain. Within two months, 8 million of Spain’s residents were ill, and the disease had spread on a global scale. Soon it became known as the Spanish flu, because it received the most press there. The other nations had their media tied up with wartime censorship; Spain, a noncombatant, had no such measures in place (Kolata, Flu 9-10). The first wave of the 1918 pandemic appeared in America without much comment. The media was more interested in attention-grabbing news about topics like the war than the rather unremarkable flu. Most people were afflicted with symptoms for a few days before recovering and moving on. The only aspect of the flu that was remarkable was the condition of the lungs from the victims who had died from the flu and pneumonia (Crosby 17-21).

As influenza continued to spread, local officials urgently requested the Public Health Service to find more nurses and doctors. In October, Congress appropriated a million dollars for the Public Health Service. The money enabled the PHS to recruit and pay for additional doctors and nurses. The existing shortage of doctors and nurses, caused by the war, made it difficult for the PHS to locate and hire qualified practitioners. The virulence of the disease also meant that many nurses and doctors contracted influenza within days of being hired.Confronted with a shortage of hospital beds, many local officials ordered that community centers and local schools be transformed into emergency hospitals. In some areas, the lack of doctors meant that nursing and medical students were drafted to staff these makeshift hospitals.” -http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/the_pandemic/influenza/index.html

Most people perceive “the flu” to be a common (not a big deal) illness, but they overlook the 20,000 deaths and over 100,000 hospitalizations nationwide.

As the Great War (WW1) was coming to an end there was a break out of a deadly virus. Influenza was the major cause of death in the 1900 killing a fifth of the world’s population in just one year. Glasgow was the first British city to be affected in May 1918, the next few months it spread all around Britain killing 228,000 people. Influenza did not affect the elderly or those who were sick it was mainly affecting those who were between the ages of 20 and 40 who had good immune systems were the ones who were becoming vulnerable. For example nowadays people are encouraged to get vaccines for flu known as ‘flu jab’ which is available every year for everyone on the NHS to protect adults and children. However people in the 1918 who were mainly affected were those between the ages of 20 and 40 unlike now its elderly over 65 years, young children, adults and those people with poor immune systems. The flu jab is not a 100% guarantee that