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SPANISH FLU: Avoiding the swine flu pandemic.
November 18, 2009
AVOIDING THE SWINE FLU PANDEMIC. THAT THOUGHT IS FOREMOST ON THE MINDS OF MANY CANADIANS THESE DAYS. CHANCES ARE, YOU'VE LINED-UP FOR THE H1-N1 VACCINE. BUT 90 YEARS AGO, THERE WERE NO LINE-UPS BECAUSE THERE WAS NO VACCINE TO COPE WITH A SIMILAR PANDEMIC. THE SO-CALLED "SPANISH FLU" KILLED AN ESTIMATED 50 TO 100-MILLION PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.
HERE'S A LOOK BACK AT THE "FORGOTTEN PANDEMIC" THAT RAVAGED KINGSTON FOR TWO YEARS.
THE YEAR WAS 1918 ... AND WAR WEARY CANADIAN SOLDIERS WERE STARTING TO COME HOME.
THOUSANDS OF THEM WOULD SOON BE DEAD... NOT FROM BULLET WOUNDS... BUT FROM AN ENEMY THEY COULDN'T SEE.
HEMO-GLUTININ NEURA-MINIDASE.
THE MEDICAL TERM BETTER KNOWN TODAY AS THE H1-N1 VIRUS.
DR DICK ZOUTMAN/ INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST:
"THE 'H' IS THE PART OF THE VIRUS THAT ATTACHES TO YOUR LUNGS AND HELPS VIRUS GET INTO YOUR BODY.
THE 'N' REFERS TO NEURMINIDASE. ANOTHER ENZYME THE VIRUS USES.
AFTER IT DESTROYS THE CELL IT'S INFECTED, IT HAS TO GET AWAY FROM THAT CELL AND THE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE.
THE NEURAMINIDSE HELPS MOVE TO THE NEXT CELL.
SO H GETS IT IN AND N GETS IT OUT."
MANY SOLDIERS RETURNING FROM THE FIRST WORLD WAR BROUGHT THE H1-N1 VIRUS HOME WITH THEM.
HUTCHINS
"IN 1918 -- SPAIN WAS A NEUTRAL COUNTRY IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR, AND DURING A TIME OF CENSORSHIP, SPAIN WAS THE FIRST NATION TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS DEADLY ILLNESS.
HENCE IT GOT THE NAME -- THE SPANISH FLU."
DR DICK ZOUTMAN/ INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST:
"IN MODERN HISTORY AS FAR AS WE KNOW IT WAS THE MOTHER OF ALL PANDEMICS..."
BUT DOCTORS AND POLITICIANS REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO TO CURB THIS PANDEMIC.
THEY KNEW ABOUT THE FLU SYMPTOMS ... SHIVERING, MUSCLE PAIN, SORE THROAT, COUGH AND HIGH FEVER.
BUT THERE WAS NO VACCINE.
THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS A VIRUS.... BECAUSE THE MICROSCOPES OF THE DAY COULDN'T SEE BUGS THAT SMALL.
DR. DICK ZOUTMAN IS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST AT KINGSTON GENERAL HOSPITAL.
DR DICK ZOUTMAN/ INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST:
"NOW HERE AT KGH WE CAN IDENTIFY THE INFLUENZA VIRUS IN FOUR HOURS.
THEY COULDN'T IDENTIFY IT AT ALL.
THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE DEALING WITH."
PAUL ROBERTSON/ CURATOR, MUSEUM OF HEALTH CARE
...AND HOSPITALS FILLED RAPIDLY
PAUL ROBERTSON IS CURATOR OF THE MUSEUM OF HEALTH CARE IN KINGSTON -- WHICH DISPLAY ARTEFACTS FROM THE ERA.
BY THE FALL OF 1918, CANADA WAS CAUGHT UP IN THE FLU PANDEMIC.
AS HOSPITALS FILLED UP IN KINGSTON, THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER ISSUED THIS PUBLIC NOTICE ... STRONGLY SUGGESTING THAT PUBLIC GATHERINGS BE BANNED.
PAUL ROBERTSON/ CURATOR, MUSEUM OF HEALTH CARE
"CLOSING CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS AND PLACES OF PUBLIC ASSEMBLY LIKE MOTION PICTURE HOUSES AND THEATRES."
PERSONAL HYGIENE DID NOT GET THE ATTENTION THAT IT DOES TODAY.
FREQUENT HAND WASHING AND COUGHING IN YOUR SLEEVE PROTOCOLS WERE NON EXISTENT.
AND COTTON MASKS DID LITTLE TO STOP THE FLU FROM SPREADING.
AND IT WAS A VICIOUS VIRUS
DR. ZOUTMAN
"THERE'S NO QUESTION THE 1918 STRAIN OF H1N1, THE FIRST KNOWN PANDEMIC WITH THAT STRAIN, WAS VERY DEADLY.
THERE ARE FASCINATING STORIES IN MEDICAL HISTORY WHERE PEOPLE WOULD GET SICK AT BREAKFAST TIME WITH FEVER AND CHILLS AND BE DEAD BY SUPPER TIME."
IN KINGSTON, FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE CAME DOWN WITH THE SPANISH FLU -- A LARGE NUMBER CONSIDERING THE CITY'S POPULATION AT THE TIME WAS ONLY 24-THOUSAND.
AN ESTIMATED 150 PEOPLE DIED.... MOST OF THEM YOUNG ADULTS. IN THE PRIME OF THEIR LIVES... IT SEEMED THE HEALTHIER THE LUNG TISSUE, THE MORE THE VIRUS SEEMED TO ACCELERATE.
THE COMMON TREATMENTS OF THE DAY RANGED FROM QUARANTINE TO MEDICAL QUACKERY.
STATELY 'GRANT HALL' AT QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY WAS OUTFITTED AS A MILITARY HOSPITAL FOR FIRST WORLD WAR SOLDIERS RETURNING WITH BATTLE WOUNDS.
INSTEAD, IT WAS CONVERTED INTO AN ISOLATION WARD.
WHILE MANY SICK CIVILIANS TURNED TO UNREGULATED DRUGS -- THAT OFFERED THE PROMISE OF PAIN RELIEF, OR AN OUTRIGHT CURE.
PAUL ROBERTSON/ CURATOR, MUSEUM OF HEALTH CARE
' THESE WERE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE MANUFACTURED MEDICINES THAT, AT THAT POINT, DIDN'T HAVE TO TELL YOU WHAT WAS IN THEM."
GARLIC, RAW ONIONS AND BEEF BROTH WERE ALSO COMMON HOME REMEDIES.
BY THE TIME THE PANDEMIC WAS DECLARED OVER IN 1920 ... THE SPANISH FLU HAD KILLED TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
THE GLOBAL DEATH TOLL WAS STAGGERING.
DR. ZOUTMAN
"THIS VIRUS WAS AT LEAST TEN TIMES MORE DEADLY THAN WHAT WE'RE EXPERIENCING NOW. MAYBE EVEN MORE MORE.
IT'S ESTIMATED THAT HALF A BILLION PEOPLE GOT SICK.
THE NUMBER THAT DIED WE DON'T REALLY KNOW.
IT'S ESTIMATED IN THE TENS OF MILLIONS. I'VE READ REPORTS OF 50 OR 100 MILLION -- WAY MORE THAN THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS COMBINED."
HUTCHINS
"A DEATH TOLL THAT MAY NEVER BE REPEATED AGAIN ... GIVEN TODAY'S MEDICAL ADVANCEMENTS.
THOUGH SOME BELIEVE THE BIGGEST THREAT AMONG THE GENERAL POPULATION THIS TIME IS SPREADING TOO MUCH INFORMATION AT ONCE."
CANADIANS HAVE BEEN BOMBARDED WITH STORIES ABOUT THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF CATCHING THE VIRUS, THE EVER CHANGING STATUS OF THE VACCINE SUPPLY, LONG LINE UPS TO GET THE FLU SHOT... AND WHETHER THE FLU HAS ACTUALLY PEAKED.
DR. ZOUTMAN SAYS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE AMONG PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES IS EXPLAINING THE RISK.... WITHOUT OVERSTATING IT.
DR. ZOUTMAN:
YOU'RE AT RISK FOR GETTING THE FLU. WELL HOW BIG IS THAT RISK?
YOU'RE AT RISK DRIVING TO WORK IN YOUR CAR WHICH IS ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN INFLUENZA."
A RECENT POLL ON THE CURRENT PANDEMIC FINDS 53-PERCENT OF CANADIANS FIND THE H1N1 RISK IS OVERBLOWN, AND ONE-QUARTER DO NOT PLAN TO GET THE VACCINE.
90 YEARS AGO, A PANICKED POPULATION HAD NO SUCH OPTION.
THEY WERE PRETTY MUCH ON THEIR OWN.
TISSUE SAMPLES FROM LONG BURIED SPANISH FLU VICTIMS IN THE FROZEN ARCTIC HAVE BEEN RECOVERED TO REGROW THE H1N1 STRAIN.... GIVING SCIENTISTS A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW SEVERE IT WAS.
THAT BUG IS NOW SAFELY LOCKED AWAY... WHILE THIS NEW STRAIN OF H1N1 IS STILL MAKING THE ROUNDS.
SOME EXPERTS BELIEVE A THIRD WAVE OF THE VIRUS IS YET TO COME.
AND THAT THIS INJECTION IS THE ONLY WAY TO STOP IT.
DR. ZOUTMAN:
"CAUSE IF WE ALL GET VACCINATED THE VIRUS HAS NOBODY TO INFECT. IT'S GOT NOWHERE TO GO."
CKWS NEWSWATCH, KINGSTON
