[ad_1]
The flu season usually starts in October, but on Tuesday, the KIRO 7 confirmed that Harborview Medical Center had experienced a few cases.
With doctors recommending that people now receive the flu shot, KIRO 7 has studied the history of influenza in the Pacific Northwest and found Friday that 100 years ago, the 11 The first cases of fatal flu have been reported to Camp Lewis.
The following is a summary of the event in a Historylink.org essay written by Duane Colt Denfeld, Ph.D.
On 21 September 1918, the US Army's Lewis camp in Pierce County reports that 11 soldiers suffering from "Spanish flu" are being treated at the base hospital. The stricken men came from army camps in the eastern and southern United States and were already infected with the new virulent and deadly strain of influenza when they presented themselves at Camp Lewis. At about the same time, at the Puget Sound shipyard in Bremerton, a seafarers' train arrives from Philadelphia and includes men with the same infection, dubbed "Spanish flu". At the end of September, nine to eleven deaths per week occur at Camp Lewis. In early October, the flu outbreak causes deaths in Seattle and in communities across the state. On October 19, Camp Lewis will be quarantined and closed to foreigners, his soldiers being limited to the camp. On November 18, the quarantine will be lifted and in March 1919, what has become a global pandemic will have largely burned.
Scroll to continue reading
More KIRO 7 News
DOWNLOAD OUR FREE APP OF NEWS
Deadly Spanish flu arrives at Camp Lewis
In March 1918, an ordinary flu wave hit Camp Lewis, brought in by an incoming infantry unit. Admissions to the camp hospital jumped, but the cases were light and the soldiers quickly recovered. There have been few, if any, new cases between May and mid-September of this year.
In June and July 1918, the 91st Division left Camp Lewis to fight in France. At his departure, the 13th division was formed at the camp and trained for the war. To fill the ranks of the division, the troops came from camps in the eastern and southern United States, where there was a much more deadly flu epidemic. It was called "Spanish flu" because its first documented appearance occurred in Spain in May 1918. When these new troops arrived at Camp Lewis, cases of Spanish flu began to appear at the base hospital . On September 18, the Puget Sound shipyard in Bremerton received a train of sailors from Philadelphia, another area where flu is prevalent. As soon as the train arrived in Bremerton, sick passengers began to go to the naval hospital.
On September 21, 1918, the Camp Lewis Hospital presented 11 cases of Spanish influenza, an insignificant number compared, for example, to the 6,583 cases hospitalized at Camp Devens in Massachusetts. However, both the Camp Lewis and Puget Sound shipyard hospitals have experienced a rapid increase in influenza admissions. At Camp Lewis, the hospital's population has grown from 1,450 to 3,024 patients in a week. The barracks have been converted to hospital wards to handle the overload. However, military doctors there thought the flu in the camp was different from the deadly flu on the east coast, lighter and of little concern, and little change was made to the mobilization and training programs. The newly recruited men came to the camps, troops were transferred to other camps as needed, and public visits to the Lewis camp continued.
On 25 September, a 1,664-man train from Camp Lewis was sent to Fort Stevens, Oregon, to be trained by the artillery. Many were already sick and once in Fort Stevens, they went to the post hospital. By the end of the month, Camp Lewis had had his first flu death and 11 other deaths had occurred quickly. The gravity was now evident and precautionary measures were taken, including an order that delayed the declaration of duty to enlisted soldiers.
In Seattle, the flu hit the naval training camp at the University of Washington and a cadet died on October 3rd. Soon, 400 university patients and two dormitories, Lewis Hall and Clark Hall, were transformed into temporary hospitals. of the Spanish flu. The disease first appeared in Vancouver Barracks, Clark County, when a Camp Lewis soldier became ill while on his way to Texas training, had to leave the train in Portland and was transported to the Vancouver Barracks Hospital. .
Drastic measures
In the week ending October 4th, Camp Lewis Hospital reported 11 deaths. Five days later, a train carrying 217 officers and men from the 213th Engineers (13th Division) stopped in the camp from Forrest Camp in Tennessee, where Spanish flu was widespread. Additional efforts have been made to control and limit the spread of influenza. The soldiers were ordered to leave the windows of the barracks open regardless of the temperature. They had to spend as much time outside as possible. Seattle has banned all Camp Lewis soldiers and Bremerton sailors from visiting the city.
During the week ending Oct. 11, Camp Lewis Base Hospital reported nine deaths. One day the following week, there were seven more deaths. Fear has now forced dramatic changes. The soldiers stayed away from the Freedom Day on October 12, marking the discovery of America and the dedication of this tallest mast in the world, 314 feet, flying the largest American flag in the world . When the flag was unfurled at the consecration, a loud crack was heard when the fir-tree mast broke into three pieces. In November, it was replaced by a shorter but still impressive 214 foot pole.
The mortality rate did not slow down at Camp Lewis in October, so additional measures were taken. Major-General Joseph Leitch (1864-1938), commander of the camp, ordered quarantine on October 19, with soldiers limited to the camp and no authorized visitors. Leitch asked his recreation agents to develop outdoor activities to entertain the troops.
Attempts to stop the spread of the flu have also been carried out in local communities. On November 3, the board of health ordered the wearing of gauze masks in public. The public has also been ordered not to spit on the outside and limit public gatherings. The influenza epidemic continued in November but declined, so that camp Lewis quarantine was allowed to end Nov. 18. Apart from some quarantine violations on November 11 while she was celebrating the Armistice ending the First World War.
Heroic artists
On October 19, the first day of mid-life, artists Linnie Love (1893-1918) and Lorna Lea came to Camp Lewis to sing for the troops. They were told that they could leave without happening, but they went to the hospital wards to entertain the sick troops. The duo performed six to seven shows a day and both had the flu and were hospitalized. On the morning of November 12, Linnie Love died at Camp Lewis Hospital. Lorna Lea recovered and continued her singing career.
For outdoor shows, soldiers were used. One day after the beginning of the forties, there were outdoor shows in three places. Each included vaudeville numbers, bands, and comedies. On one show, Sergeant Arthur Freed (1894-1973) sang. After the war, Freed became a lyricist and producer of Hollywood films and had a huge impact on musical comedy films. Another camp artist brought applause to the crowd when he sang "If the flu does not stop flying around me, I'm flying" ("Entertainment for 35,000 …").
The pandemic dies
Another flu wave struck early in 1919, but in most cases it was less deadly. The former Camp Lewis wave, which lasted from September to November 1918, struck particularly difficult new recruits, young adults who dominated the list of the dead. The only casualty was Lieutenant-Colonel Charles M. Blackford (1877-1919), struck in the last wave and died on January 18th. Colonel Blackford, a decorated officer, had served in Cuba, the Philippines, and the Punitive Mexican Territory. Shipping.
In March 1919, the flu pandemic had largely burned in the camp. While influenza at Pacific Northwest military bases was expensive, the death rate was comparable to that of other camps. In Bremerton, the Puget Sound shipyard recorded about 70 deaths. Fort Stevens, in Oregon, who had received sick men from Camp Lewis, had 72 deaths due to the flu. Camp Lewis himself had 157 dead Spanish flu in the hospital, and there were additional deaths of camp staff at home or while traveling.
Camp Lewis physicians attributed the low mortality rate to a less virulent strain of influenza, although there is no scientific evidence to support this claim. A very virulent form hit Camp Dodge in Iowa, which killed 700 people. Camp Sherman, Ohio, led the camps to death with 1,777 deaths. Camp Grant, Illinois, killed 117 people in one day. More soldiers died of the Spanish flu than in combat; the flu killed more than 57,000 soldiers and about 53,000 others in combat.
Remember the victims
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919 has been largely forgotten and there are few monuments reminiscent of the terrible number of deaths. Linnie Love's sacrifice was ignored until 1928, when the music critic Charles D. Isaacson (1882-1936) undertook an effort to erect a monument in his honor. Love volunteered to stay at camp while she could have left, and Isaacson said that she gave her life for her country, much like a soldier killed by an enemy shot. The US Congress approved funding for a monument to Love's Tomb at the Cornelius Methodist Cemetery, Oregon. The legislation recognized Love's patriotism and loyalty by staying at Camp Lewis after quarantining the camp. A simple black marble urn on a granite base was placed beside his grave. Over the years, flowers and forget-me-nots have been placed in the urn.
In 1928, the hospital where Linnie Love died was demolished and a permanent hospital was erected on the site. On the campus of the University of Washington, the two dormitories that served as hospitals survived. Lewis Hall has been converted into offices and classrooms for the School of Business Administration. Nearby is Clark Hall, now home to the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). In Vancouver, the Vancouver Barracks Hospital building survived and in early 2017 was vacant awaiting reuse.
Click here to read Duane Colt Denfeld's full text on historylink.org.
sources:
Carol R. Byerly, Fever of war: the flu epidemic in the US military during the First World War (New York: NYU Press, 2005); Nancy Bristow, American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (New York: Oxford Press, 2012); Nancy Rockafeller, "In Gauze We Trust: Public Health and the Spanish Flu on the Home Front, Seattle" Pacific Northwest QuarterlyJuly 1986, pages 104-113; "Camp Lewis reports 173 cases of influenza" The Seattle Times, September 22, 1918, p. 19; "Lewis camp soldiers enjoy good health" Ibid.September 28, 1918, p. 1; "Bremerton hit by the Spanish flu" Ibid.October 4, 1918, p. 16; "The number of new cases shows a decline at Camp Lewis" ibidOctober 13, 1918, p. 5; "Oregon Call Delayed" L & # 39; OrégonienSeptember 30, 1918, p. 1; "Soldiers receive a shipment" Ibid.September 26, 1918, p. 9; "Entertainment for 35,000 is gigantic" Ibid.October 27, 1918, p.9; "The epidemic is over" Ibid. November 17, 1918, p.7; "Agent of the flu kills" Ibid. January 19, 1919, p. 3; "Soldiers to manage civil law violations" Bellingham HeraldSeptember 25, 1918, p. 6; "Camp Lewis Quarantine" Olympian in the morningOctober 19, 1918, p. 1; "Washington State Board of Health Ordinance: Special Order and Regulations for the Prevention and Spread of Influenza", available on the Influenza Encyclopedia website available February 18, 2017 ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/4760flu.0015.674/1).
Historylink.org
[ad_2]
Source link
