Battling the Pandemic in Alaska in 1918: A Familiar Strategy

This article is a reprint from the Anchorage Daily Times, November 7, 1918. It discusses the influenza pandemic of the time in Anchorage and elsewhere in Alaska, and the strategies for combating it. It sounds surprisingly modern in some respects, or perhaps our strategies today have barely improved. Accompanying graphics are also from the Anchorage Daily Times of the period.

GRIPPE, OR INFLUENZA, WHICH IS PREVALENT HERE, IS OF MILD TYPE

Grippe, or influenza, of a mild type in the past week has afflicted quite a number of persons in the Anchorage District, but according to Dr. F. M. Boyle, a member of the Anchorage Board of Health, only two cases have developed into pneumonia, and one of these is now in a state of convalescence.

The Health Board at a meeting last week issued an order closing the school and the theatre and forbidding the holding of dances, lodge meetings and church services. These restrictions were announced as effective from Thursday, October 31, to Thursday, November 7. They may be continued for another week. This is a matter that will be determined at a meeting of the Health Board tomorrow.

The Health Board consists of Winfield Ervin, president; Dr. Boyle, and Captain H. P. Paliner, of the Medical Corps of the United States Army stationed here. Captain Palmer succeeded Dr. H. W. Stoughton, who left on a visit to the states on the steamship Farragut.

The type of ailment that is prevalent here is present in practically all towns on the Southwestern and Southeastern coasts of Alaska, and the methods that have been invoked here to combat the disease are likewise enforced inother places. The policy of closing theatres, schools and churches and of forbidding the holding of dances and public meetings has the support of Governor Thomas Riggs,jr., of Alaska. In this connection, he sent the following message to William Gerig, engineer in charge of the Anchorage Division of the Alaskan Engineering Commission: 

William Gerig,
Juneau, Oct. 31, 1918, 
Anchorage.

Advise closing of public meetings until influenza epidemic is over. Ketchikan reports 100 cases among whites and nearly 100 among Indians.

There are criticisms from some sources in both political parties that towns are being closed on account of politics. Don't let this question enter into your consideration. Lives are more important than votes, so use your best judgment about closing. First consideration is preservation of public health. Keep close track of all arrivals in any class of vessel.  

THOMAS RIGGS, JR.

Grippe, or influenza, has reached epidemic proportions in nearly all parts of the United States.

How to Combat Ailment

Rules for combatting it have been laid down by Surgeon General Gorgas, of the United States Army, as follows:

1. Avoid needless crowding; influenza is a crowd disease.

2. Smother your coughs and sneezes; others do not want the germs which you would throw away.

3. Your nose, not your mouth, was made to breathe through. Get the habit.

4. Remember the three Cs -- a clean mouth, a clean skin, and clean clothes. 

5. Try to keep cool when you walk and warm when you ride and sleep.

6. Open the windows always at home at night; at the office when practicable.

7. Food will win the war if you will give it a chance; help by choosing and chewing your food well.

8. Your fate may be in your own hands; wash your hands before eating.

The last pandemic of influenza occurred more than 25 years ago and consequently physicians who began to practise medicine since 1892 have not had personal experience in handling such a disease. For their benefit, Surgeon-General Rupert Blue, of the United States Army, has issued a special bulletin setting forth the facts concerning influenza which physicians must keep in mind. 

Chief Points Regarding Treatment

 It contains the following points: 

Infectious Agent -- The bacillus influenza of Pfeiffer.

Sources of Infection -- The secretions from the nose, throat, and respiratory passages of cases or of carriers.

Mode of Transmission -- By direct contact or indirect contact through the use of handkerchiefs, common towels, cups, mess gear, or other objects contaminated with fresh secretions. Droplet injection plays an important part.

Period of Communicability -- As long as the person harbors the causative organism in the respiratory tract.

Methods of Control -- The infected individual and the environment.

Recognition of the Disease -- By clinical manifestations and bacteriological findings.

Isolation -- Bed isolation of infected individuals during the course of the disease. Screens placed between beds are to be recommended.

Immunization -- Vaccines are used with only partial success.

Quarantine -- None; impracticable.

Concurrent Disinfection -- The discharges of the mouth, throat, nose, and other respiratory passages.

Terminal Disinfection -- Through cleanings, airing, and sunning. The causative is short-lived outside of the host. 

General Measures -- The attendant of the case should wear a gauze mask. During epidemics persons should avoid crowded assemblages and the like. Education as regards the danger of promiscuous coughing and spitting. Patients, because of the tendency to development of broncho-pneumonia, should be treated in well-ventilated, warm rooms.

All medical authorities unite in saying that treachery marks the development of pneumonia from influenza. The pneumonia is said to appear when the patient is apparently recovering and ambitiously leaves his bed too early, thus giving the germ his deadly opportunity. The less ambition, therefore, the better the chances for longevity. Furthermore, it is pointed out, "whether he fights a German [World War I still ongoing] or a germ, the man who worries is already half beaten.

Originally published in Anchorage Press