“I am done with this pandemic.” Not done by a long shot folks!

BY STEVEN KASZAB

This pandemic has made a certain statement spoken by many of your neighbours famous, “I am done with this pandemic.” “I am done.” Certainly, we have had to do many unusual things these last two years, all of which were done to keep you and I safe from the COVID-19 virus.

You have had enough, you’re done with it, cannot do anymore, right? Well, you’re not done yet folks. Not by a long shot. Two years ago, I sent an email to the Premier suggesting his health and safety trust investigate what had been done during the last world-scale pandemic. Go to any University History Department in Ontario and speak to a history specialist, preferably one with insight into the various pandemics of our past. Most of the Premier’s Health Council were doctors, and even virologists, but none had experienced a real living pandemic before.

The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide and killed approximately 20-50 million people. At that time there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain. Citizens were ordered to wear masks while schools, theatres and businesses were closed. Bodies piled high in makeshift morgues before the virus ended its global spread. This strain was highly contagious, just like Omicron is today.

When an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks, respiratory droplets spread into the air and onto people and items around them. The Spanish Flu like COVID-19 attacks the respiratory system. The first wave of the Spanish Flu occurred in the spring of 1918. Most infected experienced typical flu-like symptoms such as chills, fever and fatigue, and recovered within a week. However, the second wave of influenza attacked with a vengeance in the fall of 1918. Victims died within hours or days of developing the symptoms, their skin turning a blue colour and their lungs filling with fluid. The average life expectancy rate in America in 1918 dropped by a dozen years.

When the flu hit, most doctors, scientists and medical staff were unprepared, much like today. There were no working vaccines or medical protocols to fall back upon, no plans on how to respond. While World War I was still going on, another problem was a lack of medical staff within many nations; most were in various armies. Hospitals were overloaded with influenza patients, so schools, private homes and other buildings were used to house the many ill patients.

Students from higher learning and high schools were often used to staff these places. Many elected officials imposed quarantines, ordering citizens to wear masks, and shut down public places, including schools, churches and entertainment venues. Municipalities even outlawed spitting as a health violation.

Home remedies became popular too. Doctors not having anything that could really assist these patients prescribed aspirin, often at very high doses. Doctors often prescribed 30 grams per day; a dose now known to be toxic. Today, most doctors will prescribe less than 2-3 grams per day. Historians believe deaths of patients were due to misuse of aspirin and other home remedies. Further happenings were the burials of family members on family property, and plots dug by their family members. Basic services offered by various governments and businesses were limited or shut down.

Many made tragic decisions. Philadelphia’s response was a little too late. Their Director of Health and Charities insisted the mounting deaths were not the Spanish Flu, but the plain old flu. On September 28^th, the city went forward with its planned Liberty Loan parade attended by tens of thousands of citizens, spreading the disease like wildfire. Over the next ten days thousands of Philadelphians were dead with another 200,000 sick. Two months later 15,000 citizens were dead.

St Louis, Missouri was different, closing schools, movie theatres and other public places. Citizens in San Francisco were fined five dollars if they were caught not wearing a mask in public, and often charged with disturbing the peace.

It is believed the Spanish Flu fizzled out over a five-year period, once those infected had died or developed immunity. The forgotten pandemic must remind us all that an end will come over time.

Safe practices and community bonding together will assist our journey towards a new and better future.