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There have been multiple pandemics before the one we are in. These include Influenza, and the “Asian flu”. In 1918, an Influenza virus thought to be carried home by soldiers returning from WW1 swept the globe, killing 20 - 50 million people, 550,000 of them in the U.S. The world responded by using social distancing and quarantine, not unlike today. Schools were kept open, but were held in large, open-air rooms, even in winter. Many schools just kept their windows open. These measures were done to increase air flow. Masks were mandatory, like today. Most major U.S cities shut down their schools, but New York, New Haven, and Chicago kept their schools open. They thought that it was safer for kids to be in school, because nearly 75% of kids in New York lived in dirty and unsanitary tenements, and school provided a clean, sanitary space. Another reason schools were kept open was because it would keep kids off the streets and away from infected adults. Philadelphia was the hardest hit city. Philadelphia held a parade to try and get people to buy war bonds, which raise money for the war, even though there were already some cases of the flu. 200,000 people attended, and within two weeks, 600 of the people who were at the parade died. On the other hand, St. Louis was much quicker to react to the pandemic. The city canceled public gatherings, from football games to Halloween parties, closed schools for ten weeks, and even stationed police officers in department stores to keep people from lingering. St. Louis took action within a day of the first cases arriving. Philadelphia waited for over a week before taking infection prevention steps. The pandemic ended when the virus couldn’t find any susceptible (Not-Immune) people to infect. With no one to infect, the virus eventually died out. In 1956, a new type of flu, The H2N2 virus, also known as the Asian flu, swept the globe. It was first reported in Singapore in February of 1957, and made it to coastal U.S. cities in June. Almost 2 million people died. In the beginning, there were relatively few cases in the U.S, with the majority in China and India, but a deadly second surge in the fall months hit the Northern Hemisphere hard. The virus targeted the elderly, young children, and pregnant women. By December, almost 3,500 deaths had been reported in England and Wales and by March of 1968, there had been 69,800 deaths in the U.S. alone. The UK was losing 600 people a week at the pandemic’s height. The newspapers hardly wrote anything about the pandemic, but instead they were dominated by the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik and the fire at the Windscale nuclear reactor in the UK. If the pandemic was reported, there may have been fewer deaths. The rapid development of a vaccine against the virus brought the pandemic to an end. The 1968 another pandemic rocked the globe. Even though it wasn’t as big as the 1958 “Asian flu” but still claimed the lives of about 1 million people. Even though the outbreak didn’t cause as many deaths as past pandemics, it was still highly contagious. Within two weeks there were almost 500,000 cases in Hong Kong, about 15% of the population. In the U.S., almost 33,800 people died. The flu was first identified in Hong Kong, and within three months it had spread to The Philippines, India, Australia, Europe, and the United States. Symptoms of the virus are chills, fever, muscle pain and weakness. Infants and the elderly were the most susceptible to the virus because they didn’t have great immunity. Fewer people died during the Hong Kong flu pandemic than the two previous pandemics because places hit by the previous pandemic, the Asian flu, may have retained some immunity. The 1918, 1957, and 1968 are all part of the N2 virus strain, so the 1957 pandemic is a descendant of the 1918 pandemic, and the 1968 pandemic is a descendant of the 1957 pandemic. Some of the 1968 virus is still circulating the globe, but it was found that the virus jumped from humans to animals. It was last identified in a pig in the 90’s. We should pay attention to the past pandemics, follow the precautions that worked, and learn from the faults. Remembering to wear a mask, social distancing, and quarantine are good things to do during a pandemic. Remembering to not join large public events and not being near others will also help stop the spread of a virus. I hope everyone will stay safe and follow the precautions to help stop the spread. School in South Boston, early 1900's
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