THE SPANISH FLU PANDEMIC

- July 18, 2013

I had a little bird
Its name was Enza
I opened a window
And in-flu-enza.

A worldwide influenza pandemic broke out in 1918 just as U.S. troops were landing in Europe to fight in World War I. To prevent panic, allied governments censored reports about the "Spanish Flu" and military death records often cited pneumonia as the cause of death. The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 killed 25-40 million people on all seven continents and has been described as "the greatest medical holocaust in history." The Medieval plagues such as the Black Death were probably worse, however. Some estimates are as many as 100 million people died worldwide and 500 million contracted the disease. The population of the world at the time was around 1.8 billion people. Compare that with todays population of almost 8 billion. Close to 700,000 American's died of the disease. To put that into perspective America lost 750,000 men & women in the Civil War. America's population in 1918 was 100,208,000. Among influenza's complications were hemorrhage from the nose, stomach, and intestine. Bleeding from the ears was also common. In the 1920s the State Library & Archives sent questionnaires to the families of all Tennesseans known to have died during their World War I service The questionnaires were called Gold Star Questionnaires because the mother of a soldier who died in wartime service was awarded a gold star to sew onto a small flag for display in the window. President Wilson called these women "Gold Star Mothers." A blue star indicated that a son or daughter was on active duty in the military.

The Spanish flu actually started in the US on a Kansas farm and it was transmitted from pigs to humans thus was the beginning of the swine flu. It started as a milder form among American soldiers training at Fort Riley Kansas for WW1. The soldiers spread it overseas as they deployed for service in the trenches where it developed into a more deadly form. It was deadly in Spain and somehow because of that it was named the Spanish flu. The flu returned to the United States with a vengeance. as the soldiers returned from the war. It was especially hard on young adults. Usually the very young and elderly are the ones who suffer the most from the flu but it was the young adults with the strongest immune systems that were ravaged the most. Among influenza's complications were hemorrhage from the nose, stomach, and intestine. Bleeding from the ears was also common. In the 1920s the State Library & Archives sent questionnaires to the families of all Tennesseans known to have died during their World War I service The questionnaires were called Gold Star Questionnaires because the mother of a soldier who died in wartime service was awarded a gold star to sew onto a small flag for display in the window. President Wilson called these women "Gold Star Mothers." A blue star indicated that a son or daughter was on active duty in the military.

Nashville and Middle Tennessee became aware of the flu in late September. On September 27,1918 local newspapers were reporting a handful of people began showing symptoms. At first physicians were diagnosing the flu as the grip. By the 29th Nashville's City Hospital, or General Hospital as it came to be called, had admitted thirty patients and had to turn away 75 people due to lack of space. Within several days the hospital would be full of flu patients. By October 5th it was reported that there were anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 cases of flu in Nashville. On October 7th all Nashville theaters, movie theaters and all non essential entertainment venues were ordered closed. Schools and churches were allowed to remain open for the time being. Davidson county schools were ordered closed, however; not because of the high level of cases but the distances doctors had to travel. By October 9th even the city schools were closed and churches were asked to voluntarily cancel services which many pastors complied. By the end of October things were returning to normal and by November 1st schools and other venues were reopened. I interviewed my wife's grandmother, Grace Brown on camera when she was probably in her late 80's. She was born in 1902 and lived to be 93. I asked a number of questions about her memories of certain events in her life and one thing I asked about was the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. She gave birth to Debbie's mother Margaret on October 8, 1918. Grace told me that because of the flu epidemic that was then at it's height she gave birth on a gurney at Nashville's City hospital in a hallway. She said that five people died that day just in her immediate vicinity. Nashville had the 6th highest mortality rate of any city in the U.S.