September 1918, in Camp Devens, Massachusetts.
A man is on the autopsy table, has turned blue.
Dr William H Welch and his colleagues open the deceased man’s chest, his lungs are heavy.
Their faces turn white as they realize the man has drowned in his own blood.
Dr Welch in a shock, leaves to get some air as he stumbles over dozens of dying men lying on the floor. There are no more beds spared to house these dying men.
As the Great War, or as we now call, “World War I”, is nearing its end. A plague began spreading throughout the world. This Enemy does not have a face but possesses all the power to suffocate its victims mercilessly, more than any chlorine gas being used on the front lines of the battlefields.
Depicted are the horrific scenes from history, the true origin of this virus is still a mystery even a century later. However, it is certain that the plague began spreading from the front lines and the trenches of the battlefields.
As the war nears its closing phase, troops begin coming back home. Unknowingly they were bringing back a monster worse than any enemy nation could be to them. A poem written by a soldier goes as follows:
“It stalked into camp
when the day was damp, chilly, and cold.
It crept by the guards and murdered my pards,
with a hand that was clammy, boney and bold,
and its breath was icy and mouldy and dank.
It killed soo speedy and gloatingly greedy,
it took away men from each company rank”
– PVT Joshua Lee, 13’th Infantry Division, 1919
As the young men disembarked the ships, the virus spread to the civilian population. As the virus spread among the people rumors began to get hold, however, the press did not reveal much and simply called it a common cold.
At that time, the press of the warring nations was under pressure from their respective governments so they did not publish information about this new virus to prevent public panic and a loss of morale.
But Spain on the other hand, was neutral in the war and their press openly published information about it, thus the name it garnered was “Spanish Flu”.
Here started the story of Dr William H Welch who was very famous in the United States. He propelled the countrys’ medicine to the modern age, rather he was able to rival great European powers.
He founded the John Hopkins schools of medicine, and organised the Rocker fella Institute. In the meanwhile, during the pandemic, he realized a new virus was spreading and he urged the military not to keep the men in such tight quarters and to at least quarantine the soldiers who were disembarking from the ships.
Unfortunately, the military did not take his warnings seriously and allowed the men off the ships and back their homes.
Once the virus began spreading in cities, it became apparent that a serious new illness had begun to spread and finally the local authorities urged people to stay home.
Still, not much was done on the national level in the afflicted nations. An anonymous doctor said in an article of the “New York Times” (1919),
“As I walk down the streets going home to home, I see people sickly everywhere. So many have died that there is no more space to bury them, some of them have been left out in the streets. Truly a horrific time. May God help us all.”
The virus spread in the colonies of Great Britain, especially the Sub-Continent, where it is said that it killed almost 15 to 20 million people.
This continued till the virus died down for a while, then an even stronger strain came in, called the “Second Wave”. The second wave, though deadlier was short lived.
The archives report very less on exactly why but it is said that the deadlier strain killed so many people that it made its own survival difficult.
Soon after this came the third strain of the virus, which was reported to be less deadlier; and by 1920 the first successful vaccines had been developed.
Sadly, till then this virus had claimed the lives of what is estimated to be fifty million people and infected almost half of the global population.
Currently, a new Pandemic has afflicted the world. It is again a faceless enemy which suffocates and kills the vulnerable. This enemy is of the family of Corona Viruses, same family as the Spanish Flu.
However, this time the world is comparatively better prepared but only time will tell if we repeat the same mistakes of the past, or are able to overcome this virus, before it claims another 50 million lives or more.
A very informative piece of writing with a literary touch. Brilliant writer.
Good research and very informative.