Fri 17 Jul 2009
1918 Pandemic, London Times Editorial : “The Surest Way To Catch The Flu Is To Worry About It Or Be Afraid Of It”
Posted by admin under GeneralNo Comments
Submitted by YOUR NEW REALITY
By Darryl Mason
A remarkable London Times editorial on ‘The Mystery Of Influenza’ from October 28, 1918 can be read here. A couple of excerpts to follow.
The first sees the unnamed writer speculating that the mental, emotional shock and trauma and grief at the loss and carnage of World War I had somehow made people more susceptible to infection from the ‘Spanish Flu’ virus. It’s a remarkable insight for 90 years ago. We know now that high stress can deplete the immune system and make you more vulnerable to influenza infection :
(click to enlarge)
This second excerpt ends the October 28, 1918 editorial. It is filled with good advice that applies well to avoiding swine flu today, and dealing with it once you become infected :
A 1918 ode to the power of positive thinking : “The surest way to catch (it) is to worry about it or be afraid of it.”
More than 200,000 more people across the country would die from influenza, or the pneumonia that often followed infection in the next nine months after that editorial was written.
The whole scanned page of the London Times from October 28, 1918, is fascinating. There is also a feisty editorial about how World War I “is not yet over”, and that the Germans must accept general terms for peace. The Armistice ending the war was declared only two weeks later.
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