Hell Hath No Fury than History Scorned: The Spanish Influenza of 1918 and Covid-19

Editor: Anita Newkirk Hackney

If we refuse to take heed of the warning signs left behind in history, history is doomed to repeat itself. One perfect example of this is American people suffered from the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918, and now we are  suffering from another global pandemic after 100 years of trying to avoid it.  

H₁N₁, or the Spanish Influenza of 1918, was one of the deadliest pandemics in recent history. There were other flu pandemics like the swine flu; but none of them came close to the death toll of the H₁N₁ pandemic of 1918, which totaled 50 million deaths on a global scale. Unlike Covid-19 or the coronavirus, the origins of this virus is unknown. 

“Although there is not a universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918” according to the Center for Disease Control website.

In 1918, the H₁N₁ pandemic had symptoms like a typical flu – chills, a fever, muscle aches and fatigue. The first wave of H₁N₁ affected people, but most of them recovered after several days making the reported death toll low before the next wave hit. 

According to history.com, “[. . .] A second, highly contagious wave of influenza appeared with a vengeance in the fall of that same year. Victims died within hours or days of developing symptoms, their skin turning blue and their lungs filling with liquid that caused them to suffocate. In just one year, 1918, the average life expectancy in America plummeted by a dozen years.”

According to Nina Strochlic and Riley D. Champine from nationalgeographic.com, “Flu cases continued to mount until finally on October 3, schools, churches, and public gathering spaces were shut down. Just two weeks after the first reported case, there was at least 20,000 more. The 1918 flu, also known as the Spanish Flu, lasted until 1920 and is considered the deadliest pandemic in modern history. Today, as the world grinds to a halt in response to the coronavirus, scientists and historians are studying the 1918 outbreak for clues to the most effective way to stop a global pandemic.”

Covid-19 started in China, and it is now a global pandemic with over one million cases and deaths. The common symptoms of the coronavirus consist of a fever, tiredness and a dry cough; however, the coronavirus affects people differently. For instance, some people may experience aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, a sore throat, or diarrhea. On an average, it takes these symptoms about five to six days to show from the time the person is infected with the virus. Symptoms may also take up to 14 days to be diagnosed. 

People who suffer from mild symptoms, or are otherwise healthy, should isolate themselves during this time. People should seek medical attention if they have a fever, cough and are having difficulty breathing. 

Covid-19 does not only attack the lungs, it also affects the heart and the kidneys. 

According to the Huffington Post, “The novel coronavirus kills by inflaming and clogging the tiny air sacs in the lungs. But clinicians around the world are seeing evidence that suggests the virus also may be causing heart inflammation, acute kidney disease, neurological malfunction, and liver problems. That development has complicated treatment for the most severe cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, and makes the course of recovery less certain, medical professionals say. Early data [. . .] shows 14 to 30% of intensive-care patients in New York and Wuhan, China– birthplace of the pandemic– have lost kidney function and require dialysis, or its in-hospital cousin, continuous renal replacement therapy.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has infected a vast majority of people on a global scale. There are approximately 39.1 million cases around the world and this number continues to grow on a daily basis. The reason the number of cases and deaths continues to grow is due to countries, like the United States, that don’t enforce a mask mandate and refuse to take serious precautions against the pandemic. The U.S. has approximately 8.04 million cases, which increases daily due to President Trump politicizing the pandemic and mocking presidential candidate and Former Vice President Joe Biden for wearing a mask in public. 

According to Daniel Victor, Lew Serviss and Azi Paybarah from The New York Times, there was a time “[. . .] At the presidential debate on Tuesday, after saying that he wore masks ‘when needed,’ Mr. Trump claimed that, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the leading U.S. official on infectious diseases, had initially said that ‘masks are not good—then he changed his mind.’ Dr. Fauci rejected the claim, saying on Thursday that he had long been ‘begging people to wear masks.’ It was the latest in Mr. Trump’s pattern of playing down the seriousness of the coronavirus.”

Due to this situation, people who support President Trump don’t take into account the severity of their actions when it comes to the pandemic until it’s too late. While these supporters do not take it seriously, businesses like Maurices, H&M, At Home, and Furniture Row are requesting that their employers and customers wear masks. Businesses in cities like San Francisco and St. Louis have also enacted mandatory masks requirements. 

In a way, the Spanish Influenza of 1918 and Covid-19 are similar:  both viruses are the deadliest pandemics in recent history and have claimed the most lives;  people tried to quarantine, but there was (and is) always a  group of individuals who refuse to uphold the mandate; and there is no vaccine for the coronavirus nor for the H₁N₁ virus. Hopefully, a vaccine will be ready for the public for both viruses if H₁N₁ rears its ugly head again in the near future. 

When we refuse to take heed of the warnings left in history, history is doomed to repeat itself. We have experienced these events firsthand from the suffering of the Spanish Influenza of 1918 and now from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

History is the key to solving solutions, like forging alliances with Britain and Japan. However, when you ignore it like the Trump administration’s detention centers being the equivalent of concentration camps and the Japanese internment camps; hell hath no fury than history scorned.