The Great Influenza By John M. Barry

The pandemic struck the world and infected 1/3 of earth’s human population, killing over 50 million humans. The world’s top doctors have never witnessed anything of this killing magnitude besides the bubonic plague of 1348 but the transmissibility is of nothing they’ve ever seen in their lifetime or of recorded history. People abruptly became aware of the importance of health, and need of medicine and cleanliness.

In his book “The Great Influenza”, author John M. Barry writes about how scientific research is difficult and full of uncertainty. Barry uses concise syntax, repetition and negative describing words, in order to give the audience an idea about the struggles and uncertainty of scientific research.

The global crisis of the Influenza disease sent the world into a dark time. After analyzing the given 9 documents, different perspectives were seen on the epidemic. Some believed the spread was all a test of faith and this was just apart of a religious path for the world. Others believed the rapid spread and rising death numbers were all the governments fault for not taking enough health precautions. Another perspective was of volunteers giving back to the sick, and sharing their experiences.

As the horrendous experiences of the First World War began to wind down, a new terror emerged in the form of the Spanish Influenza that circumnavigated the world, not once but twice within a two-year period. While the general public commonly remembered experiences of the war in literature, art, prose and memorials, those of the 1918 pandemic were not. Research completed by this author on the subject of German bias during the First World War found little mention of the influenza pandemic in The Burlington Hawk-Eye, the state?s longest continually operating newspaper, published in Burlington, Iowa. However, the Burlington Public Library Board, in its meeting minutes, recommended the

Determined journalists, travelers, and people of other professions believe in exploring the natural world, conducting research, and performing experimental errors. Scientists, especially, will often embrace their passions with certainty that they will discover something worthwhile, ignoring the challenges they may come across. In “The Great Influenza” by John M. Barry, he describes these scientists with the utmost respect. Barry characterizes scientific research as a devoted activity where it is crucial to embrace uncertainty in order to yield solutions; this outlook is seen through his subtle figurative language, specifically, allusions along with the direct characterization of the qualities that successful scientists must hold, and comparisons.

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, you’re sweating, coughing, and starting to throw up. In today’s world, doctors are available for situations like these. Before the 1800’s, doctors were not as common, and their techniques were questionable. It wasn’t until the 1800’s, that doctors and scientists began discovering and creating medicines and vaccines to help cure sickness and disease. During the 1800’s, there were very many medical advancements. Because there were a lot of medical advancements, there were conflictions such as medical/scientific concerns, ethical concerns, legal changes, and how the economy was affected.

A man named Osler suffered from the influenza for about 3 months. His most recent biographer believes he could have lived if he was under the care of Johns Hopkins Hospital. They might have saved him. On September 20, 1919 many of the best scientists gathered up. They had to be prepared. It was epidemic and was rapidly spreading. In just eight weeks in early 1920, there were 11,000 deaths that occurred in New York and Chicago. A man named John Dill Robertson who had been deeply concerned about this deathly virus organized 3,000 of the most professional nurses throughout the entire city. Whenever an influenza case was developed, that victim’s home was tagged. On January 22, a man named Dr. Paul Turner wanted to enforce absolute quarantine. A few years

Walking down any given street in the year 1918 between the months of June and December, one would take notice of coffins lining the sidewalks. Nobody was on the streets, and dead bodies were stuffed into every available space. The Flu Epidemic of 1918 not only was the most devastating event of the twentieth century, but propelled the United States to search for a vaccine that has not yet been found, causing concern that the flu will strike again.

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.

“It killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. – John Barry

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 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).

Throughout history until the 19th century, infectious diseases, epidemics, and pandemics were thought to be the manifestation of supernatural forces and little to nothing was truly effective in preventing or treating these devastating threats to society. It was only during the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment that the long-accepted realities of society were questioned and research was conducted based on science and reason that would forever change the world we live in (Kumar, 2007). The science of epidemiology was founded by John Snow’s identification of polluted public water well as the source of an 1854 cholera outbreak in London. Shortly thereafter germ theory began to emerge and science took off.

In two years between 1918 and 1919, A pandemic of influenza swept mercilessly over the planet, killing millions which stood in its path. Miraculously, the exact origin of the pandemic is unclear. What is exceedingly clear, however, is that often the actions of man aided in the spread of the virus, whether due to inadvertent endangerment, close quarters, religious principles, or failure to recognize the true threat that influenza posed.

This paper will follow some of the major epidemics in world history. It will demonstrate how the treatments of patients in the past have changed over time. The major diseases that took out a majority of the world’s populations are now curable and the diseases are now regulated. The paper will begin with the most iconic