Pandemics: We’ve dealt with this before

by Marianne Gasaway

The old adage states there are lessons to be learned from history.  Many have likened the coronavirus to the 1918 flu pandemic, and looking back into the archives of the Mirror-Reporter, it appears history does, indeed, repeat itself.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the 1918 influenza pandemic was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin.  Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-19.  It is estimated that about 500 million people, or one-third of the world’s population, became infected with the virus.  The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that by the fall of 1918 the Iowa Board of Health quarantined the entire state, forcing all public gathering places to close.

The archives of the Clear Lake Mirror offer a glimpse into life at those times.

Under the headline, “Uncle Sam’s Advice on Flu,” Clear Lake residents were advised the epidemic was: “probably not Spanish in origin; Germ still unknown; and people should guard against ‘droplet infection.”

“In most cases a person taken sick with influenza feels sick rather suddenly.  He feels weak, has pains in the eyes, ears, head or back, and may be sore all over.  Many patients feel dizzy, some vomit.  Most of the patients complain of feeling chilly, and with this comes a fever in which the temperature rises to 100 to 104.  In most cases the pulse remains relatively slow,” advised a local doctor.  “In appearance one is struck by the fact that the patient looks sick.  His eyes and the inner side of his eyelids may be slightly bloodshot, or congested.  There may be running from the nose, or there may be some cough. These signs of a cold may not be marked; nevertheless the patient looks and feels very sick.”

Those with the symptoms were advised to “go home at once and go to bed.  This will keep away dangerous complications and will, at the same time, keep the patient from scattering the disease far and wide.”

Sound familiar?

How about this catchy phrase from the day?  “Cover up each cough and sneeze.  If you don’t, you’ll spread disease.”

Advice back then also included efforts to keep the body strong and able to fight off disease germs.

“This can be done by having a proper procla-

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tion of work, play and rest, by keeping the body well clothed, and by eating sufficient wholesome and properly selected food,” one article advised.  “Avoid overcrowding. Consider it a health danger and make every effort to reduce overcrowding to a minimum.  The value of fresh air through open windows cannot be over emphasized.”

Like now, there was no immunization or cure for the flu pandemic, but that didn’t keep many companies from offering products which claimed to help.

The Ethel Drug Co. in Clear Lake sold Boschee’s Syrup.

“Boschee’s Syrup has been used so successfully for 52 years in all parts of the United States for coughs, bronchitis, colds settled in the throat, especially lung troubles. It gives the patient a good night’s rest, free from coughing, with easy expectoration in the morning, gives nature a chance to soothe the inflamed parts, throw off the disease, helping the patient to regain his health.”

There was also the familiar Vick’s Vaporub, which is still used today.

In 1918 an advertisement appearing in the Mirror detailed how Vick’s could be used to treat Spanish Influenza.

“External applications: In order to stimulate the lining of the air passages to throw off the grippe germs, to aid in loosening the phlegm and keeping the air passages open, thus making the breathing easier, Vick’s Vaporub will be found effective.  Hot, wet towels should be applied over the throat, chest and back between the shoulder blades to open the pores.  Then Vick’s should be rubbed in over the parts until the skin is red, spread on thickly and cover with two thicknesses of hot flannel clothes.  Leave the clothing loose around the neck, as the heat of the body liberates the ingredients in the form of vapors.”

Yet, many families experienced loss during 1918 and 1919.  The Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918 killed 6,543 Iowans, most of them in the last three months of the year.  That number was far more than the 2,000 Iowans killed in World War I.

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