BOPDHB History Tauranga Hospital Centennial Book | Page 10

Did You Know?
The 1918 influenza pandemic was commonly referred to
as ‘the Spanish flu’ but it did not originate in Spain. It was
given the popular name by journalists when the Spanish
King, Alfonso XIII, fell seriously ill with a form of influenza in
May that year.

Influenza Pandemic 2009 (Swine Flu)
The first cases of the influenza virus strain H1N1 arrived
in New Zealand on 25 April, 2009, with students from
Auckland’s Rangitoto College returning from a trip to
Mexico. In the months that followed, the Ministry of Health
reported more than 3500 cases of swine flu infection, and it
was recorded as being responsible for 20 deaths, although
a dozen more may have resulted from infection.

Margaret Downie (Grimmer)
Resident, 1950’s

I grew up in the state-housing block between 21st and
23rd Avenues in the early 1950’s. This block became
home to many families who had lived in the Tauranga
Domain transit camp, in very poor conditions, post war,
and families like mine who came from Auckland for a
better life. The block was backed by Murray’s dairy farm
and extended down behind the present hospital site.

Nurse in an isolation ward at Tauranga Hospital 1934.

What is Influenza?
• A virus transmitted through the air by coughs or sneezes.
• Symptoms include: chills, fever, runny nose, sore throat,
coughs, headache and muscular pain.
• The real killer in 1918 was pneumonia – a secondary
infection.
• The skin of some people who caught pneumonia
darkened because of burst blood vessels. If the whole
body became virtually black this often meant imminent
death.

Did You Know?
Influenza spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics,
resulting in about three to five million yearly cases of severe
illness and about 250,000 to 500,000 yearly deaths, rising
to millions in some pandemic years.

The Tauranga South School, later Tauranga Girl’s
College, was built for the children of the expanding
Tauranga town. The houses were allocated to families
on unbroken land, previously farmland which had been
the stables area for the British fighting the Māori.
This history was significant when a twin child of newly
arrived British immigrants died of tetanus (lockjaw).
This unheard of killer disease caused fear and panic in
the young families.
I also remember painful boils and skin infections being
quite common. My father was twice hospitalised with
blood poisoning from very nasty carbuncles. TB was
also an issue and a young mother up our street was
sent away to a sanatorium for a very long recuperation.
The son of farmer Murray, was kicked in the thigh by
his draught horse ‘Judy’ and was in Tauranga Hospital
for a long time and lucky not to lose his leg.
The polio epidemic struck when I was at the co-ed
Tauranga College, now Tauranga Boys’ College. Some
pupils were affected and we were all dosed with the
new oral vaccine. How lucky we are today to have
immunisation programmes to protect our children from
potentially fatal diseases. I had diphtheria when I was
three years old.
Happily, my sister was born in the Maternity Annexe in
1951. My mother told us she and a nurse discussed
whether the birth was imminent. Having lost her first
baby due to injuries at birth, my mother knew better, the
baby promptly arrived safely.

A close up of the influenza virus strain H1N1.

4

I congratulate Tauranga Hospital on its centenary and
thank staff, past and present, for the wonderful service
they provide to the Bay of Plenty.