the great influenza summary

Great Information. This Study Guide consists of approximately 58 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - The vaccines were not successful though because viruses are still present today. Wilson also used the Red Cross to enter every community in the nation. The virus mutated again and drifted enough to make people sick once more. After the horror at Camp Devens in Boston, the Army surgeon general sent warnings to camps throughout the country. The war ended in November, but people continued to die from the flu. For instance, President Woodrow Wilson caught the flu in 1919 when he was negotiating peace terms after World War I. Sometimes a particular mutation ends up being better than earlier versions which makes the virus even better at getting cells to do its bidding. Local leaders and newspapers either ignored the disease or misled people on its severity. The commanding officer of Camp Grant refused to limit troop training exercises and continued sending troops from his camp to other camps throughout the country, which was a concern for doctors at those camps. It eventually infected most of the troops who were sent overseas, so they weren’t able to fight during that time period. Penguin Books, Oct. 4, 2005. As a result of this mindset, medical professionals like Dr. William Henry Krusen continued telling patients that they did not have influenza even though it was clear that many people in Philadelphia did have it. In Samoa, 22% of the population died from it. President Wilson never acknowledged the virus that was sweeping through his country and leaving bodies in its wake. Meanwhile, influenza was spreading at a naval training center in Chicago. In 1918, in Haskell County, Kansas, Dr. Loring Miner noticed that several patients were suffering from strong headaches and body aches, high fevers and nonproductive coughs. In 1901, John D. Rockefeller founded what would become known as the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City with funding from his personal wealth and donations from friends like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Higginson, who were also members of The Order of Skull & Bones. However, despite his findings being accepted by other scientists who mattered, he would not win the Nobel Prize or be widely recognized for his discovery. He presided over a group of like-minded researchers and scholars. Oswald Avery was one of the best in his field at preventing pneumonia, so Gorgas asked for his recipe. “First, do no harm.” This is a phrase that doctors say before they can start practicing medicine. However, research continued onward with two approaches: tracing epidemiology and following clues found in labs. Barry approaches the subject with a broad He decided that his spiritual successors were people like Avery, Park, Lewis, and Williams who fought the pandemic independently of each other in New York City and Philadelphia. Many people have died from it and many more are at risk for it because they could be exposed to a deadly virus in the future. None of these vaccines worked very well, and even places that practiced isolation saw high death rates from influenza or its effects. Prior to this outbreak the average number of deaths per week had been about 400. The Great Influenza Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to However, this virus was different from malaria and it caused serious problems. It started with one bubble, and then more bubbles formed. The ships were a problem. However, there were some problems with that approach. In fact, he had helped establish American medicine, but in this time of need, it was up to others to save the day. To ensure his legacy, John D. Rockefeller founded the Rockefeller Institute in 1901. At the time, Germany was known for its educational system. At that time, Billings met Welch in a beer hall in Leipzig and was impressed by him. The book was published in 2004 and has been republished several times since then. However, unlike the army barracks, Philadelphia was mismanaged by a political machine that had appointed Dr. Wilmer Krusen as head of public health despite his lack of understanding or commitment to public health issues. It was true that it was hard to grow in a lab, but perhaps there was something else missing. When offered a position at the University of Iowa, Lewis declined it because he wanted to focus on his research full-time and hired researchers without direction or specific tasks in mind. The city of Philadelphia was especially hard-hit by this epidemic because there weren’t enough doctors and nurses to help patients; approximately half a million people fell ill in that area alone. Camp Devens was a large army camp 35 miles outside of Boston. It was spread to other parts of the country by soldiers from Haskell and then into Europe through American soldiers stationed there. The way they did this was reminiscent of plagues that happened centuries ago in Europe. The flu spread rapidly and killed many people. Meanwhile, in Europe scientists were making many medical advancements such as the germ theory of disease. Park was from an upper-class background, so he believed that his work served God. It turned out to be one of the worst epidemics ever known. While medical expertise and the number of researchers grew exponentially after the founding of Hopkins, a flu pandemic was a rude awakening to how much was still unknown. A good scientist will be skeptical of his or her own ideas and results. The sacrifices that everyone had made were hard enough on them without the fear of getting sick themselves and dying from it. Park asked Williams if she could help find the influenza bacillus by concentrating her efforts on finding it. The development of the antitoxin for diphtheria was a major breakthrough in medicine. In 1923 he proved that the shell contained carbohydrates, which could trigger an immune response. There are new pandemics to worry about. Galen continued this practice by putting together a system of guesses based on observations rather than real experimentation. In the 1970s, doctors discovered a condition called ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome). One of the scientists Lewis hired, Richard Shope, worked with him on identifying and tracing swine influenza. It scared me and amazed me. Pregnant women were also particularly susceptible to death from this flu because they had strong immune responses that filled up their lungs with fluid and dead cells, killing them. I’m glad I read it. He moves forward to describe how the war helped to spread the flu not only from soldiers to American citizens, but also spread it throughout the world. He would have to act independently of the army along with Welch and other members of his team if they wanted any change. These families used their power to create a plan to distribute aid after World War I ended in 1918. His report caused a stir because Americans started trusting experts more during this time period known as The Progressive Era. It was not until later years that the virus mutated into a less virulent strain, but it still exists today. However, they couldn’t rest until they found an answer. As Barry concludes, "The final lesson of 1918, a simple one yet one most difficult to execute, is that...those in authority must retain the public's trust. They planned on testing a large sample of people, but the virus spread too quickly. For example, San Francisco did an excellent job at fighting off the second wave but still suffered in the third one because they were lucky rather than due to any efforts on their part. By doing this, they changed science forever. The 1918 flu was particularly nasty, but it still just the flu. The question of how the virus was transmitted was key to combating it. His frustration grew as he became more involved in fundraising and less involved with lab work. He also explains how viruses work and what influenza is like. This involves collaboration between statisticians from the Census Bureau and medical researchers who focus on laboratory work rather than statistical analysis. Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research and now revised to reflect the growing danger of the avian flu, The Great Influenza is ultimately a tale of triumph amid tragedy, which provides us with a precise and sobering model as … When Welch was on the train back to Baltimore from Boston, he felt sick. The scientists weren’t listened to. He ended up at Bellevue in New York where he could teach pathology without equipment. The best way to prevent the spread of a virus is to create a vaccine for it. A saga of grit, luck, determination, and resilience against an invisible foe. If a strain can successfully do that, it will be more likely to infect you. The hospital couldn’t keep up with all the patients so doctors stopped admitting people who weren’t already hospitalized. These vaccines worked fairly well, but there were not enough tests performed on them to prove conclusive results. She succeeded in finding it 80% of the time, but that didn’t answer any questions about whether or not Pfeiffer’s bacillus caused influenza or was just a symptom of something else happening with humans. It can be deadly if it gets worse and hardens the lungs to a point where oxygen cannot get into the bloodstream or when bacteria that cause pneumonia enter the bloodstream. It became the most important medical institution in American history because it focused on science and research. Barry begins his story by describing the subpar medical training and providers in America leading up to this pandemic. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Great Influenza. Avery then changed direction and focused on other areas of study instead. One is that the immune system begins to fight it off and develop immunity. In the last part of the book, Barry follows Avery and Lewis as they continue their research on influenza. India was hit hardest with nearly 10% of the population dying from either influenza or its effects during this time period. May 14, 2020 • John Barry, author of the 2004 book, The Great Influenza, draws parallels between today's pandemic and the flu of 1918. They were better than European counterparts by 1914. The agency provided nurses for the military, set up hospitals overseas, and even equipped railroad cars as mobile labs if a disease outbreak occurred. However, as the virus spread across Europe and began to cause severe illness among young adults in America, Gorgas and company started monitoring it. Barry next describes the outbreak of the flu in Haskell County, Kansas, the place where it is believed the strain of flu that caused the 1918 epidemic originated. The government tried to censor all information that might hurt the war effort while also hiring Welch, Flexner and others to join the National Research Council to help prepare for a potential epidemic. This ended their friendship and Welch would never have another close relationship again. DNA is the vehicle for genetic information. Summary. Avery told Welch the news, which confirmed the news Wolbach had given him of the presence of Pfeiffer’s in the autopsies he performed. Shortform: The World's Best Book Summaries, Shortform Blog: Free Guides and Excerpts of Books, The Great Influenza Book Summary, by John M. Barry, The Millionaire Mind Book Summary, by Thomas J. Stanley. Avery’s accomplishment has been accepted as true; it’s the basis of molecular biology. However, some great minds still fought against influenza including Oswald Avery at Rockefeller University, William Park and Anna Williams from New York City Department of Public Health and Paul Lewis in Philadelphia. This quest led to tragedy, but it also resulted in a breakthrough discovery that would change the world of medicine forever. Bacterial resistant strains are on the rise as well so even if someone were infected by an antibiotic-resistant strain of pneumonia that had been caused by a new viral outbreak, they probably wouldn’t survive anyway. Viking $29.95 (560p) ISBN 978-0-670-89473-4. Many people around the world couldn’t find a physician at all during this pandemic, so they tried folk remedies or over-the-counter medications instead. Making matters worse, there were only around 100,000 doctors available at the time of outbreak—most of them deemed incompetent by military officials—and most had already been drafted into service or were being used in cities as part of a new “Volunteer Medical Service.” Nurses proved even harder to find than doctors during this period because nurses were more important for patient care than physicians given that diagnoses weren’t largely needed during this pandemic. Johns Hopkins University is an example of a school that changed the way medicine was taught. Some researchers focused on curing trench fever and gangrene or creating poisons gases for defense purposes. The largest single donor remained the Rockefeller Foundation, which had established Flexner’s own institute in 1913 (Flexner Report). The flu struck quickly and severely. The virus was already spreading, and it was only a matter of time before the disease would spread to other cities. A wave of discoveries led to a breakthrough that proved germs cause disease (1883). The United States was fighting a total war, and therefore there were sacrifices that everyone had to make. Have too much to read? The key message here is: Influenza constantly mutates to evade our immune system. In one day alone, 1,800 troops got sick. Hopkins’ new approach to medicine attracted attention. Still, it was progress. He made monumental discoveries because of his persistence. Two days after the parade, Krusen admitted that he had been wrong about how safe this event was and said there was actually a deadly flu going around Philadelphia at this time which killed many people very quickly after they got sick from it. So, people who told bad news were considered unpatriotic. It follows American medical professionals as they try to combat this deadly disease, and it puts their story within a broader context by focusing on World War I, which exacerbated spread of the flu. The Great Influenza. Magisterial in its breadth of perspective and depth of research, The Great Influenza provides us with a precise and sobering model as we confront the epidemics looming on our own horizon. Sign up for a 5-day free trial here. The lobes of the lungs are also attacked by an infection in some instances. White blood cells surround an antigen, chop it up into pieces, and present those pieces to dendritic cells in lymph nodes or spleen. However, Johns Hopkins University sought to change that by becoming successful with its new model for medical education; by World War I, American medicine had surpassed Europe’s. It’s very good at doing this, as it can create 100,000-1 million copies of itself using proteins. The flu was a very serious problem and it had to be dealt with. Based on his experience with that committee, he offers advice in the Afterword for how to combat and survive a future pandemic. Although no one knows for sure how this outbreak started or where it came from, when it hit Camp Devens (a military base located near Boston), it spread quickly. It was a leading cause of death around the world and Gorgas wanted to prevent it. Unfortunately, shortly after the second wave of the flu had passed, a third wave occurred. The US President Woodrow Wilson was reluctant to get involved, even winning reelection in 1916 as the candidate who “Kept Us Out of the War”. He told Gilman that they should hire Welch as one of their professors at Johns Hopkins Medical School. It had good facilities and medical personnel, but it was only designed to hold 36,000 men. His own research was going nowhere and his mentor kept encouraging him to leave Princeton and take a job at Iowa. The speech that dedicated the school didn’t mention God, but instead talked about how science is similar to religion in that both deal with questions of knowledge: “What can I know?” and “How can I know it?”. He said that it was not “immediately necessary.”. Park and Williams could not change Copeland’s mind, but they were able to work hard in the laboratory. He hired Oswald Avery based on one paper he had read, which was about tuberculosis. It was most deadly for people in their 20s and 30s, who were healthy but had strong immune systems that responded vigorously to the infection. People could not be upset about the sacrifices they needed to make if morale was high. The author introduces the reader to the characters—the physicians, the researchers, the officials of both military and civilian life, who will direct and mold the tale of the influenza pandemic of 1918. And that can lead to death in other parts of your body. Although the virus was mostly contained in Europe, it spread to Australia when they lifted their quarantine. Barry describes the bad decisions made in the military and civilian America that made conditions ripe for an epidemic. He knew that he had to do something, but he didn’t take any action because he thought that it would lead to panic and interfere with the war effort. This chapter is mostly about the biography of William Henry Welch, who was born in 1850. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History is a nonfiction book by John M. Barry that examines the worst pandemic in world history, the influenza epidemic of 1918 and 1919. This time it was not as widespread or deadly as before but still managed to strike some cities that had previously been spared from the disease. The army distributed a vaccine that was developed at Walter Reed Hospital, but most civilians weren’t vaccinated. Scientists Lewis and Park also believed this bacterium caused the new virus, so they began developing a vaccine for it. When it does happen, the virus spreads through intermediary mammals (like swine) before reaching humans. Morgues were filled with bodies stacked on top of each other and the disease had spread to Boston and Philadelphia. The main legacy was that researchers discovered a new flu virus in laboratories. Even though Capps wrote an article about using masks and crowd control in August 1918, his advice was ignored by Colonel Charles Hagadorn when he took over as commander of Camp Grant. Still, the Spanish flu continued to spread throughout the city. Science was not prepared for the flu pandemic in 1918. Even the surgeon general was ignored by officials. Hippocrates had some ideas about medical therapy. The doctors lied to the press saying that it was not influenza on board, but later they said it was indeed influenza and tried to contain the virus since it had become more deadly than before. After working at the Rockefeller Institute in New York, Avery continued to ponder why he and others were having trouble finding Pfeiffer’s bacillus. More men were getting sick every few minutes and the virus threatened to engulf the city. In the United States alone, there were 675,000 deaths out of 105 million citizens. A man named Walter Reed volunteered to go to Brazil and investigate it. In the Afterword, Barry provides new statistics about the flu pandemic’s death toll. In the quest to find a cure for the 1918 flu pandemic, Dr. Frederick G. Kilbourne Lewis was forced to abandon the scientific method at times and work on multiple strands of research in parallel rather than successively. He had trouble working in his lab because he couldn’t get any answers from it. Following this book’s initial publication, he served on an Obama administration committee of historians and scientists who sought best practices for another pandemic. This section assumes that readers are not familiar with medical terminology or biological concepts so he uses analogies and metaphors to explain his point. They know that most pandemics come in waves and that the 1918 influenza may have existed for several years before it spread as easily as it did. Eventually, even church bells became a source of terror for one person who wondered if they would toll for her when she died. When The Great Influenza first came out, I got a copy from Bill Foege, a good friend and public-health hero who helped to eradicate smallpox. It was also reported that the German army had a lot of soldiers who got sick with influenza, which may have prevented them from winning battles.

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