The Y 1918-19 Pandemic

#Spanish #flu #1918 #pandemic #CDC #history

History is usually written by the winners and shaped in real time to match the narrative that helps the winners sell their current point of view, and that is the reason why it is so fascinating to discover facts and hypotheses that go against the grain, such as the hypothesis about aspirin poisoning killing potentially a large number of people during the 1918-19 pandemic.

According to history.com, "The 1st recorded infection was in a US Army private stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas on March 4, 1918. Although the United States and the other nations at war initially suppressed news of the flu … there was a sense that following these new health precautions was patriotic."

• It is estimated that the Spanish flu pandemic killed 20 to 50-M people worldwide

• In the words of the CDC, "CDC researchers and their colleagues successfully reconstructed the influenza virus that caused the 1918-19 flu pandemic, which killed as many as 50 million people worldwide"

• Politicians in some cities were enforcing masks in the name of patriotism and public good, and the police were jailing dissenters the scientists debated the value of masks for preventing the flu

During the 1918-19 pandemic, mask-wearing ordinances were mainly issued on the Westcoast. Reportedly, most people complied at a rate of about 80%. Public officials "framed anti-flu measures as a way to protect the troops from the deadly outbreak." 

In the early 2000s, the 1918 influenza virus was reconstructed by the CDC.

In order to create a genomic sequence of what the scientists agreed to believe was the 1918-19 flu virus, the scientists resorted to excavating a grave in Alaskan permafrost and desecrating the body of an Inuit woman who was buried there. They also extracted samples from the bodies of 2 late US service members, 1 in South Carolina, and the other in the state of New York.

It seems like whenever modern mechanical curiosity and thirst for control take over, the respect for life and death just goes away. It is not like there was a looming threat over humanity that required urgent measures. There was no such threat. The researchers did it simply because they were curious and felt entitled to sticking their fingers where they did not belong. And as long as our science lacks soul, The People will be their lab rats.

It is fascinating how history happens, repeats and then forgotten.

Have a happy, healthy weekend, Keep the Faith!