NCJ Number
189846
Journal
Clinical Infectious Diseases Volume: 31 Issue: 6 Dated: 2000 Pages: 1409-1413
Date Published
2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A review of the infamous outbreak of influenza is intended to advance discussions among health professionals and policymakers about effective medical and public health responses to bioterrorism.
Abstract
The Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 had catastrophic effects upon urban populations in the United States. Large numbers of frightened, critically ill people overwhelmed health care providers. Mortuaries and cemeteries were severely strained by rapid accumulation of corpses of flu victims. The swiftness of the disease and an inadequate health reporting system obscured the understanding of the outbreak’s extent and effectiveness of containment measures. Fear of contagion incited social and ethnic tensions and epidemic controls such as closing public gathering places elicited both community support and resistance. The recommendations to inform planning for any large-scale infectious disease emergency are building capacity to care for mass casualties, respecting social mores relating to burial practices, and characterizing the outbreak accurately and promptly. Also important is earning public confidence in emergency measures, and guarding against discrimination and allocating resources fairly. As recently as 2000, hospitals faced acute shortages of staff, beds, and equipment during a not unusually severe flu season. The disruption was a result, not of an especially virulent virus, but a health care system unable to cope with a nominal upswing in demand. Medical, public health, and policy communities should attend to the warnings of these experiences about the potential frailty of populations and institutions in the face of an infectious disease emergency, particularly one initiated by a deliberately released pathogen. 33 references.