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What It Was Really Like To Live Through The ‘Spanish Flu’ Pandemic In 1918-1919

Philadelphia topped in the US

How scary it gets when 13,000 people die within a month? Yeah, you heard that right! The city of Philadelphia managed to get the top spot in terms of the number of cases of Spanish flu in 1918. It all started when people heard that the flu was contained within the Boston naval facility, and they came out for a massive parade. It took no time for the flu to capture over 100 people in its grip.

The unavailability of medical professionals and hospitals led to the conversion of churches and armories into shelters for sick people. By the beginning of November, 13,000 people died. Currently, the USA is topping the list of maximum COVID-19 cases with over 800,000 cases.

The Pandemic affected social relations for a long time

The widespread pandemic became an eternal source of fear among the people. The number of dead and affected people made others think just about themselves. It was so frightening that people refrained from touching each other, eating with each other, and going out of the house. As there were no schools, churches, or offices, the flu affected relationships on all levels.

In short, the Spanish flu took away all the intimacy and love that existed among people and their loved ones. Similarly, due to COVID-19, today also people cannot meet and talk to each other face to face. Though technology has helped them do so virtually.

Quarantines were enacted

The pandemic called Spanish flu was rapid in transmitting among people. Moreover, once it was transmitted, it had a very serious impact on the health. So, many cities around the US were quarantined. It was believed that if all of the affected and normal people were quarantined, it would stop the disease from spreading.

People who were affected were either quarantined in their homes or the nearby designated place. Though, the strictness of quarantine was different in different cities. On the one hand, St. Louis followed strictly quarantined, and on the other hand, New York City wasn’t. Today, quarantines are enacted all over the world to control the scope of COVID-19, just like in 1918-19.

Public buildings were converted to hospitals

The scope of affected people due to the flu was so wide that it was out of control. All the active American healthcare facilities could not handle that many patients at a time. So, the communities of the country used their private and public buildings to accommodate the affected people.

Various public buildings like armories accompanied by some private residences were also converted into medical centers for treating people. All of these efforts put up by the communities made it a bit easy for health experts to take care of the infected people. Just like the 1918 flu, the spread of COVID-19 also led to the conversion of soccer stadiums, horse racetracks, and convention centers into hospitals.

Masks were made compulsory in outdoor areas

The Spanish flu wave was so dangerous that people were not even allowed to breathe freely. As the flu targeted people through breathing, it was necessary that every person who goes out should wear a mask for safety. Though, different places in America had different scenarios in this case also.

In places like Colorado, Seattle, and others, people were required to wear masks while shopping and traveling. On the other hand, California took the flu more seriously by detaining and fining those who were not wearing a mask in public places. Today, the use of masks is also compulsory for anyone who goes out in public.

Civilians blamed Germany

As both the war and the Spanish flu happened at almost the same time. It was also believed that Germany had used the flu as a weapon to win the war against its enemies. Moreover, the German population in the US was also labeled with the tag of unclean and uncooperative population.

All of this also led to chaos and the spreading of disease. The complaint about foreigners not taking the rules and orders seriously was also highlighted by one of the health officials. He added that the foreigners give us equal issues as the pandemic. Similar to the events of 1918-1919, today, everyone is blaming China for the virus.

Kansas was the center of the first outbreak

The army camp Fort Riley was not a fine establishment in 1918, and this became the reason for the spreading of the Spanish flu. Housing a total of 26,000 men, the infection in the army camp started with a cook. During the same day, 100 more men were in the infirmary with the bad cold as the cook.

In the end, more than 1100 soldiers caught the flu, and 46 of them died. Post this, the flu transferred to other camps, but the information was kept classified due to war. On the other hand, Wuhan became the center of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019-20.

The Pandemic resulted in a shortage of coffins

The overall death toll due to the Spanish flu was between 50-100 million. This number was way more than those killed in World War 1. If we talk about the US, the death toll was near about half a million in the US alone. Now, the point of all these statistics is knowing that the funeral industry of the US was not able to handle all this.

There was a shortage of coffins, which made people keep the bodies of their deceased members at home until they were collected. Packing crates were used in place of coffins. The year 2020 saw countries like Hong Kong, Ecuador, and many others facing a shortage of coffins due to COVID-19.

Social gathering places like theatres and bars were closed

As it was known that the transmission of disease among individuals is fast. All the places that served as the magnetic spots in the cities were closed to avoid large crowds. All the movie theaters, dance halls, and other entertainment spots were shut down. Some of the major and large events were also canceled. New York City kept the movie houses running while keeping a close check on the regulation of the theaters.

On the bright side, all these social distancing methods undertaken by the cities paid off. There was a huge reduction in the number of flu cases in the coming days. Similar to history, the spread of COVID-19 also led to shutting down of all public places around the world.

Young adults were the primary targets

Well, usually when the flu hits the population. The very young ones and old ones are the primary targets of that. This is pretty obvious as they are the ones that have low immunity as compared to young adults. But, the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 was a bit different. Surprisingly, the most affected people by this flu were young adults between the age 20-35 years.

The reason behind this was that people born before 1889 had some immunity against the exposure of such a virus strain. On the other hand, those born after 1889 didn’t. In contrast to this, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 targeted old age people rather than young adults.

Medical staff shortage was so severe that nurses were abducted

The more people will get sick, the more hospitals and medical professionals will be required. It is that simple. This was the scenario faced by America during the 1918 Spanish flu. As most of the doctors and nurses were recruited by the army, there was a shortage of medical professionals when the disease hit the normal people. This led to a huge demand for medical staff and equipment to take care of the sick. People were so distressed by this situation that they started abducting nurses to take care of their families.

Today, countries like the US that have the best medical system in the world are facing a shortage of staff due to the overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases.

Volunteer nurses were recruited by cities

Just similar to the above-mentioned point, the shortage of medical staff left hospitals and universities in America with one last option. They started recruiting women from the communities that can serve as nurses. All the volunteers were taken in and were guided what to do and how to do it. Moreover, the recruitment process did not require them to have any background experience in the nursing field. This step of the authorities also led to balanced consequences.

Though the sick people were getting all the help they needed, some of the employed nurses ended up getting the disease themselves. Similar to this, today, countries like the US and Europe are promoting medical students to join the hospitals for combating COVID-19.

Coughing and spitting in public was banned

It was pretty easy to understand that there was a need to maintain absolute cleanliness for the well being of the masses. And as the disease spreads even by contact, the cities banned people from spitting and coughing in public. As the air was the best medium of germs transfer, people were advised not to interact with each other. Violators of the given order were charged with a fine.

Moreover, in cities like New Castle, the violators were also supposed to serve jail time along with charges. This also provided a bit of control over the pandemic. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, everyone is advised to cover their mouth with a tissue while coughing and sneezing.

Every night was full of horrors

The period of the Spanish flu was filled with horrors. There was not a single night that didn’t take a life. Every morning, there was only one desperate question that needed answers, who died during the night. Everyone was aware of the fact that death was there all the time. This fear among the people was also due to the fact that young people were the primary target of this flu.

The way this flu made people bleed along with turning their body blue struck horror in the hearts of those near them. In the month of February 2020, every night in Italy was the night of horrors as COVID-19 cases were exponentially growing.

Use of garlic for protection

While, some people were busy protecting them with the help of face masks, quarantine, and social distancing. There were some folks that took the help of homeopathy. They used various home remedies to protect themself from the flu. Gargling salt water, eating oranges, and drinking a certain type of tea were the primary measures.

There were many other methods employed that included wearing a necklace of garlic cloves for defense. Some of the Americans used laxatives and even alcohol to protect themselves from the flu. It is not sure how effective these methods were, but people tried their best to protect themselves. 

Even remote areas were not immune

We usually assume that areas with less population are immune to such disasters. But, the Spanish flu of 1918-19 was not unfair to anyone. The flu was equally dangerous in some of the villages of Alaska state of the US. Due to this fact, in some cases, entire villages were wiped out.

Moreover, in some of them, only the adults were killed. The Inupiaq Eskimo village, Brevig Mission in Alaska, faced the worst consequences of the flu. 90% of the people in the village were dead. They were buried in a two-meter deep pit by gold miners of Nome.

The second wave of the flu was worse than the first

Well, the Spanish flu was not here for a one time show. It occurred again after the summer of 1918, and this time it was deadlier than last. The end of the year 1918 was not at all good for Brest, Freetown, Sierra Leone, and other port towns.

The flu started from Boston naval facility, and the mentioned port towns were the worst hit. The loss of life in the second phase of the Spanish flu was 5x the first one. Around 200,000 people died in the United States Of America itself. Till now, the COVID-19 virus of 2020 has taken over 178,00 lives worldwide.

Flu traveled to Europe and other countries through American soldiers

Not just America, but Spanish flu was spread all over the world in 1918 itself. The major carriers of the flu were the American soldiers that were shipped to Europe in the month of March and April of 1918. Almost 200,000 thousand soldiers were shipped, and along with them was the deadly Spanish flu.

After infecting the 31,000 people in Great Britain, the virus swiftly spread to the other regions of the world. The flu took over India, Russia, North Africa, Japan, China, the Philippines, and even New Zealand by July. The year 2019-20 saw the spreading of COVID-19 from nation to nation through travelers.

Philadelphia topped in the US

How scary it gets when 13,000 people die within a month? Yeah, you heard that right! The city of Philadelphia managed to get the top spot in terms of the number of cases of Spanish flu in 1918. It all started when people heard that the flu was contained within the Boston naval facility, and they came out for a massive parade. It took no time for the flu to capture over 100 people in its grip.

The unavailability of medical professionals and hospitals led to the conversion of churches and armories into shelters for sick people. By the beginning of November, 13,000 people died. Currently, the USA is topping the list of maximum COVID-19 cases with over 800,000 cases.

Local stores avoided making sales

While keeping the scenario of Philadelphia in mind, the health officials asked the private business to avoid conducting sales. The only purpose of this action was to keep people from making these places crowded. Yeah, it stopped the sales of the businesses for some time, but it also gave them protection against the Spanish flu.

In New York, the storekeepers were asked to change their business hours so that the excessive crowd can be avoided. This helped a lot in keeping the public in safe hands against the Spanish flu. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, all types of business stores have been closed all over the world.

Turning blue and Internal Bleeding were the primary signs

The overall effect of the flu on the body of the individual was extremely bad. It all started with a minimal cough and headache, and in a very short time, your body would become absolutely powerless. The next phase was nasty enough, as it included internal bleeding around the lungs. Moreover, the whole body would change its color to blue along with bleeding from the nose, mouth, and even ears.

The damage to the lungs was so bad that the person would die in a day or two or even hours after developing the basic symptoms. On the other hand, fever, tiredness, and dry cough were the primary signs of COVID-19.

Birds were the source of Pandemic

Similar to all other Influenza viruses, the Spanish flu also came from the birds. The Avian bird that has a beautiful feathery look is the source of this deadly virus. And to keep it simple, the people who work in the food factory are the ones to be infected first.

The possibility that the disease will become a pandemic is entirely dependent on the fact that it is transferable from humans to humans or not. When the influenza strain develops, only then the flu has the ability to become a pandemic. Just like the Spanish flu, Bats are the source of the COVID-19 virus.

People created dark humor to deal with anxiety and fear

No matter what happens in the world, there are always some people who face every difficulty with a smiley face. The same was in the case of the Spanish flu. People made dark humor and anecdotes to deal with the intense situation.

There were various jokes and rhythms made to help people get over the fear for some time. This not only helped them in being in quarantine, but it also enhanced their mental health. All these small steps taken by people helped them overcome anxiety and stress in those tough times.

Whiskey and champagne were used for Medication

The medication system in those days was a lot different than it is today. Today, we can get a proper course of action after being confirmed about an issue. Back then, and especially during the Spanish flu, there was no exact medical process to deal with the flu. Surprisingly, the care process of the flu included alcohol. Doctors and nurses would give the affected patients a sip of champagne and hot whiskey for nausea. This was also done as the patients were more, and the staff didn’t have the time to check each of them.

Presently, the primary way to deal with COVID-19 is to keep a close check on your hygiene, the use of alcohol-based sanitizers is recommended.

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