'The Great Influenza' - Chapter 14, (1918)

Videopro wrote:
I have a copy of 'The Great Influenza' that I bought about 3 years ago. I've been leafing thru it again today to get a sense of the 'now and then' comparisons. So, i'm toying with the idea of taking passages from the book to match what is unfolding now on a regular basis going forward to see how much insight can be gleaned and trends identified. My first entry:


From Chapter 14 'It Begins'

In France there had been some localized flare-ups of influenza during the winter, but they did not seem to spread and behaved like endemic, not epidemic disease. The first unusual outbreaks in Europe occurred in Brest in early April where American troops disembarked. In Brest itself a French naval command was suddenly crippled. And from Brest the disease did spread and quickly in concentric circles.

Still, although many got sick, these outbreaks were, like those in the United States, generally mild. Troops were temporarily debilitated, then recovered. For example, an epidemic erupted near Chaumont involving U.S. troops and civilians; of 172 marines guarding headquarters there, most feel ill and fifty-four required hospitalization - but all of them recovered.

The first appearance in the French Army came April 10. Influenza struck Paris in late April, and at about the same time the disease reached Italy. In the British Army, the first cases appeared in mid-April, then the disease exploded. In May the British First Army alone suffered 36,473 hospital admissions and tens of thousands of less serious cases. In the Second Army, a British report noted, "At the end of May it appeared with great violence.... The numbers affected were very great.... A brigade of artillery had one-third of it's strength taken ill within forty-eight hours, and in the brigade ammunition column only 15 men were available for duty one day out of a strength of 145."

The British Third Army suffered equally. In June troops returned from the Continent introducing the disease into England. But again the complications were few and nearly all the troops recovered. The only serious concern - and it was serious indeed - was that the disease would undermine the troop's ability to fight...

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Round 1 - Check. Profoundly similar sounding right down to nearly the precise day of the month, exactly ninety-one years ago.

Will contribute more as conditions progress.