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| Science & Technology |
| Remembering The Last Killer Flu |
| 2006-12-17 |
| At the height of the flu pandemic in 1918, William H. Sardo Jr. remembers the pine caskets stacked in the living room of his family's house, a funeral home in Washington, D.C. The city had slowed to a near halt. Schools were closed. Church services were banned. The federal government limited its hours of operation. People were dying — some who took ill in the morning were dead by night. "That's how quickly it happened," said Sardo, 94, who lives in an assisted living facility just outside the nation's capital. "They disappeared from the face of the earth." Sardo is among the last survivors of the 1918 flu pandemic. Their stories offer a glimpse at the forgotten history of one of the world's worst plagues, when the virus killed at least 50 million people and perhaps as many as 100 million. More than 600,000 people in the United States died of what was then called "Spanish Influenza." The flu seemed to be particularly lethal for otherwise healthy young adults, many of whom suffocated from the buildup of liquids in their lungs. In the United States, the first reported cases surfaced at an Army camp in Kansas as World War I began winding down. The virus quickly spread among soldiers at U.S. camps and in the trenches of Europe. It paralyzed many communities as it circled the world. In the District of Columbia, the first recorded influenza death came on Sept. 21, 1918. The victim, a 24-year-old railroad worker, had been exposed in New York four days earlier. The flu swept through the nation's capital, which had attracted thousands of soldiers and war workers. By the time the pandemic had subsided, at least 30,000 people had become ill and 3,000 had died in the city. Among the infected was Sardo, who was 6 years old at the time. He remembers little of his illness but recalls that his mother was terrified. "They kept me well separated from everybody," said Sardo, who lived with his parents, two brothers and three other family members. His family quarantined him in the bedroom he had shared with his brother. Everyone in the family wore masks. The city began shutting down. The federal government staggered its hours to limit crowding on the streets and on streetcars. Commissioners overseeing the district closed schools in early October, along with playgrounds, theaters, vaudeville houses and "all places of amusement." Dances and other social gatherings were banned. The commissioners asked clergy to cancel church services because the pandemic was threatening the "machinery of the federal government," The Washington Star newspaper reported at the time. Pastors protested. "There was a feeling that they couldn't turn to God, other than in prayer," Sardo said. "They liked the feeling of going to church, and they were forbidden." The flu's spread and the ensuing restrictions "made everybody afraid to go see anybody," he said. "It changed a lot of society," Sardo said. "We became more individualistic." In a list of 12 rules to prevent the disease's spread, the Army's surgeon general wrote that people should "avoid needless crowding," open windows and "breathe deeply" when the air is "pure" and "wash your hands before eating." One slogan was, "Cover up each cough and sneeze. If you don't, you'll spread the disease." Those who were healthy wore masks when venturing outside. People who were known to be infected were threatened with a $50 fine if they were seen in public. Sardo remembers people throwing buckets of water with disinfectant on their sidewalks to wash away germs from people spitting on the street. At the time, rumors swirled that the Germans had spread the disease — which Sardo did not believe. A second flu survivor, 99-year-old Ruth Marshall, says she, her two sisters and a brother came down with what they thought was a cold. Then the fever struck and the illness became severe, she said. Marshall, who lived just steps from the Capitol at the time, said the influenza deaths reported in the newspapers came as a surprise. "We never thought we were going to die. We did pretty good — a lot of prayers," she said. Others were not so fortunate. As the death toll started to mount, there was a shortage of coffins. Funeral homes could not keep up. Sardo's father, who owned William H. Sardo & Co., and other funeral-home directors turned to soldiers for help embalming and digging thousands of graves. Talk of the threat of another pandemic brings back memories for Sardo, who says he has gotten a flu shot every year they are available. "It scares the hell out of me. It does," Sardo said. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #10 If it wasn't for the Spanish influenza, I might not be here, guys. My dad was a "replacement baby" for the daughter my grandparents lost. Albina was only two, and there was no one who could help them when she got sick (not that there was any real treatment for it at that time anyway, but a desperate parent will try anything and go anywhere if it might save a precious child). I can't help but think of her every time I hear about how we are overdue for another killer flu epidemic. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-12-17 23:26 |
| #9 It was a killer becuz few knew the cause nor the correct treatment. This was WW1 era - many Euro doctors were still amputating limbs for minor mwounds, and many so-called "physicians" or doctors would be called paramedics or medical-nursing assistants today. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-12-17 22:37 |
| #8 Frank G.: Agreed. Except I would add that a Middle East undergoing a killer flu pandemic is a Middle East ready to be bombed back (?) into the Stone Age. Let's make it a twofer. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2006-12-17 21:42 |
| #7 We're all doomed, doomed, none will get out alive... Now what? |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-12-17 19:28 |
| #6 Barbara: all indications are that avian flu could be much worse than Spanish flu. To start with, as a disease it has a 20% higher mortality rate. i already gott birdy flu this year and survivied inntact excepting speeling. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-12-17 16:20 |
| #5 Frankly, the cure/vaccination will be developed in America or another Western nation. Ima thinking the tranzis will be pushing the "let's innoculate all nations equally" crap. Fuck em. Do it first here at home, then our allies, and somewhere down the line, Pakistan, Iran, et al will get a tiny dribble. Natural selection and cause/effect coincide... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-17 15:44 |
| #4 Barbara: all indications are that avian flu could be much worse than Spanish flu. To start with, as a disease it has a 20% higher mortality rate. Second, even if it only wipes out vast numbers of animals, it could plunge much of the world into starvation or malnutrition. Third, there are vastly more people now than there were then. 1.8b compared to 6.1b. And with modern transportation, the disease travels much faster than the response. That is, when an outbreak happens, it is followed by quiet period while the disease is incubating. Then the next outbreak is in a larger area. But this is deceptive. In reality, the disease is already two cycles ahead in its progress, invisibly passing through barrier after barrier. The first big wave will be infecting large numbers of people before anyone comes down with the disease in the US. By the time the first dozens or hundreds of cases show symptoms, tens of thousands of people will be infected. No matter what the federal government does, it will seem to be too little, too late. Casualty estimates average around 3M Americans killed, and an equal number with severe lung damage. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-12-17 15:40 |
| #3 Our office has had a flu/cold going around (asholes keep coming in when sick - I prohibit my staff from doing that), I've been in heavy hand-washing and Purel mode. So far, so good *knocks on wood*. In the big flu to come (and it will, some day) - we should be OK, but it will be a huge depopulator in those areas that are densely populated, poor sanitation, and lack of personal hygiene. Oh well, Insh'allah! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-17 14:47 |
| #2 If the flu mutates to a "killer" strain again, I just don't think it will be as bad as in 1918. (Not that it will be good, just not that bad.) Public sanitation - and communications - are so much better now than back then, at least in this country. And we do have some antivirals that will help. Second and third world countries, on the other hand.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-12-17 14:29 |
| #1 nothing to sneeze at *rimshot* I'm here all week. Take my wife.. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-17 14:06 |