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Introduction to Influenza Influenza goes as far back as early as 400 B.C known by ancient physicians such as Hippocrates during the age of Pericles. It wasn’t until 1782 that it was formally named influenza by the Royal College of Physicians of London. Its name was derived from Italian language meaning, “influence” referring to “influence of the cold.” It was originally known as febris catarrhalis epidemica prior to its change. During the year 1781 in the fall, influenza was reported to have reached Siberia, Russia, China and India, then months later spreading to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, England and most of Eastern Europe. The influenza epidemic of 1782 ignited social, economical and political contempt as the physician’s who bantered upon how this epidemic was transmitted continued their quarrel. At this time, the technology needed to discover the etiology and transmission was unavailable leaving this debate to continue, the repercussions of which altered the practice of medicine in the 18th century.

Physician Immanuel Kant had written after the mass epidemic in his article “Notice to Physicians” that it was not only spread airborne, but also by insects. These insects were spread from country to country, more specifically through the Russian trading route to China on land had brought harmful insects that spread the infection to the Far East. It can possibly be dated back even earlier to when the Europeans conquered the indigenous people of Americas in 1493 when a large epidemic of infection with similar symptoms to that of influenza wiped out the Antilles people. The most infamous case of the outbreak of influenza was during the year 1918, when the Spanish flu pandemic hit. It was type A influenza H1N1 subtype, lasted till 1919 killed anywhere from 20 to 100 million people. The symptoms were very unusual for its time and often mistaken for cholera or typhoid, which made treating it very difficult. Striking symptoms at the time included hemorrhage from mucous membranes, bleeding out from the nose, stomach as well as intestines. Influenza caused a secondary inflection known as bacterial pneumonia, which caused a majority of the deaths.

Colonials during 1918 Pandemic, South Africa The colonialist of Southern Africa near the Gold Coast was well informed by the sierra Leone of an epidemic that was making its way south. The informants described a virus of extreme intensity, that is to not be taken lightly. These warnings were disregarded as the virus spread to the Gold Coast, and it was just as the Sierra Leone reports stated. The virus had spread via mass transportation such as ships. The colonist scrambled to prevent the virus from spreading, two options were quarantine and improving the medical situations to accommodate for the wide spread virus taking over western Africa. The colonists turned their attention to the medicine and hospital care to treat the sick and possibly approach a cure for this new strain of the flu. Majority of the hospitals turned their efforts towards helping the colonists over the indigenous African society. There were plenty of indigenous Africans who did receive treatment but colonials were prioritized and the medicine was inadequate. September 1918, the virus had spread to neighboring colonies but the colonist had made many provisions in their communications tactics. They reported incidents of recently contaminated territories that have fallen victim to the virus, as well as limiting the mobility of the virus by prohibiting travel. Ship inspections and quarantine on small scale as safety procedures to counter the virus. Colonial Africa area once again turn to the medical field in need of advancement toward the elimination of the virus, but the colonies did not have sufficient funds nor the staffing to do so. Sanitary measures had also been taken into action as the colonialist realized that a virus can contaminate areas based on sanitation. Public health and hygiene increased over time and the amount of infected people of the virus decreased with the construction of new hospitals.

Influenza in Europe The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than WWI, at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history, killing even more in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague. The impact of the influenza infection in Africa is not very well documented. Of all six continents, Africa and particularly sub-Saharan Africa suffered the highest average mortality rate in the pandemic. The pandemic carried off some 2.4 million, of these, 2.2 million were in sub-Saharan Africa, where the mortality rate may have reached 2.3 percent overall. Since, as elsewhere in the world, the bulk of those who died were young adults between eighteen and forty, the effect on societies was disastrous in terms of loss of labor, reproductive capacity, parents, breadwinners and family structures. For the continent, it affected it not only economically but socially; it was an absolute catastrophe.

The worst hit Countries appear to have been those where three features came together: first exposure to the pandemic only in its most deadly form, secondly being a part of an extensive transport network by sea or by land; (whether it be soldiers, sailors, or migrant workers). Those three factors, coincided most fully in countries like South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon, Gold Coast, Gambia, Tanganyika and Nyasaland. These countries had a mortality rate of up to 5%. Disruption of all daily life, followed in the wake of the pandemic as it struck down person after person, family after family. In many towns villages shops, banks and businesses struggled to remain open for lack of staff; public transport, schooling. Mines, factories and workshops suspended operations. Even the most basic of services like sanitary removal, mail delivery and policing were grinded to a halt. In rural areas tilling, planting and harvesting came to a halt and cows were left un-milked because whole households had succumbed to influenza. Doctors were overwhelmed by the impact of the pandemic. As there was no medical cure at the time, the best that doctors could prescribe was natural recovery or good nursing. As usual, in the absence of an actual cure many went along making their own whacky remedies to meet the popular demand for an antidote.

References Heaton, Matthew, and Toyin Falola. “Global Explanations versus Local Interpretations: The Historiography of the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 in Africa.” History in Africa, vol. 33, 2006, pp. 205–230., www.jstor.org/stable/20065771.

Patterson, K. David. “The Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19 in the Gold Coast.” The Journal of African History, vol. 24, no. 4, 1983, pp. 485–502. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/181255.

Phillips, Howard: Influenza Pandemic (Africa), in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2014-10-08. DOI

“The History of Influenza.” Science, vol. 49, no. 1261, 1919, pp. 216–217. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1643270.

Shope, Richard E. “Influenza: History, Epidemiology, and Speculation: The R. E. Dyer Lecture.” Public Health Reports (1896-1970), vol. 73, no. 2, 1958, pp. 165–178. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4590072.