That's why they called it the Spanish Flu

I just finished The Great Influenza, about the global pandemic of 1918,  and learned a great deal about this interesting time when about 5% of the earth's population was killed. It's a fascinating story of the history of the study of infectious disease, and how it is dealt with.

First you must realize that fifty years earlier, medicine was mostly practiced using the knowledge of the ancient Greeks, and had little to do with modern science. Physicians studied the philosophy of medicine and had little or no contact with actual patients during their studies. Disease was thought to be spread by bad odors. Bleeding was a common cure. Infection and germ theory were little understood by most doctors in this country. In the 1870, the Johns Hopkins schools was created, modelling itself after European scientific medical theories. But even by 1918, there were a great deal of doctors who were ignorant of what we now understand about how disease is spread.

A great mobilization went underway when the War broke out, placing thousands of soldiers in very close proximity, then dispatching to remote poits, creating an ideal vector for contagious disease. At the same time, pioneering research institutes had their own mobilization, performing basic research and educating doctors and military officials.

The author explains how diseases are spread in layman's terms, and notes how scientists started unlocking this process. There were great minds and great sacrafices made as we entered the modern world of medicine.

There were also politics involved; there was extreme censorship of all media during the war emergency, more so than any other time in our history. The initial epidemic was downplayed to prevent panic and to build morale. Unfortunately, this was a costly mistake, as many politicians didn't realize the seriousness of the disease.

One of the few major European nations at the time who remained neutral was Spain. They had no press censorship, and reported the vents very accurately. Since so many people only heard of it in conjunction with Spain, the name "Spanish Flu" stuck.

Mixing science and politics can be very risky business.

I'd recommend this book to everybody; it's a great adventure of discovery, and has many lessons we can use today.