We live in a time of
adversity. Some might call it the worst of times. Yet, some have said the same
of other times.
That's,
coincidentally, true of the Spanish flu of 1918. My great-uncle and namesake
was at Camp Funston in Kansas where some historians believe it originated. My
relative was one of the fortunate who survived that pandemic which claimed an
estimated 50 million lives around the globe.
The true extent of
damage, both in lives and economics, for COVID-19 remains to be seen.
We are, though, more
fortunate in many ways than our ancestors who suffered through the Spanish flu.
The Internet, for
instance, provides the latest information and updates it in a timely fashion.
The news didn't travel as fast in 1918. On the downside, conspiracy theories
and quack prescriptions spread equally as fast as facts these days, adding to
confusion and heightening fears.
Again, thanks to the
Internet, China was able to dispense the DNA of the virus to other nations in a
remarkably short time, giving researchers a leg up on understanding the virus
and, hopefully, speeding up the process of developing a vaccine.
There's also the fact
many advances have been made in medicine since 1918, advances which assure
better treatment of patients and ability to save lives. In 1918, we didn't even
know what a virus was, let alone how to deal with one. Physicians knew the
disease spread through respiratory drops but they didn't have microscopes
powerful enough to view a virus. You couldn't test for something you didn't
know existed.
Because they did know
how it spread, they did determine the value of social distancing, which has
proven equally effective in the current pandemic. Unfortunately, then as now,
some people are slow learners and fail to heed the best advice.
Then, as now, some in
high offices put the economy or their own self-interest above the welfare of
the public and downplayed the dangers, pushing to ease restrictions and social
distancing. That did not bode well then, and it won't in the present. This is a
dangerous disease and it won't go away just because we want it to.
