Pandemic 1918

Yesterday, caught an interesting programme on PBS America. Worth watching if they screen it again.

So called 'Spanish Flu'

The waring nations feared talk of it would sap morale, so discussion of it was censored. Spain being not a belligerent, it was openly discussed in the country, so it got the name, Spanish Flu.

But it originated in USA, first case detected in Kansas.

Aus threw a Cordon sanitaire around their island to keep it out. (Lengthy quarantines)

But otherwise, it seems only one place managed the outbreak well. Introduced social distancing, masks, closed schools asked people to walk to work rather than use public transport etc etc. In short the stuff we witnessed when Covid struck.

That place was MANCHESTER.

And their success was attained in the face of much opposition from central government, and contrary to its policy and scientific advice.

Rather sadly, almost as would again play out in Manc after WW2 (- Alan Turing), the man who saved huge loss of life in Manchester shortly after WW1 went into a decline, and he too took his own life!

Rather sadly, almost as would again play out in Manc after WW2 (- Alan Turing), the man who saved huge loss of life in Manchester shortly after WW1 went into a decline, and he too took his own life!

I nearly asked myself Lecky

During the more recent pandemic, I looked up the origins of the Spanish Flu, and I was surprised to discover that it all started in America, and why it became known as Spanish Flu.

500 million were infected, and up to 100 million died,

It was a very interesting read, but I'm still convinced that the recent one was caused as a result of a containment breach in a facility in China, during some kind of experiment with the H1N1 virus. It was too coincidental that a 1000 bed hospital was built in record time very close to that facility, but we'll never know the truth of it.

Channel 84 Freeview if anyone is interested in future airings.

Thanks, Ena M, that’s interesting, I wasn’t aware of Manchester’s relative success in managing the Spanish Flu pandemic.

LectricLegs & First Mate, Ena means that “Manchester's medical officer Dr James Niven, the Scottish physician who was the first to introduce preventative measures to slow the spread of a disease, saving many lives,” suffered a similar fate to Alan Turing as sadly, “following his retirement he suffered from depression and committed suicide in 1925.” (M.E.N.)

Suffered a similar fate. to Turing?
Was he chemically castrated also?

No, he wasn’t LectricLegs, I worded that badly!

No probs, Jo Anne.
Just thought I'd point out the difference.