However, when I reviewed the National Institutes of Health’s
record of Dr. Blue’s Public Health Service, it appeared much more
protective and engaged under Blue’s leadership–closing public places,
advising masks, etc.–than the book suggests. Whom to believe? Dr.
Blue otherwise worked strongly throughout his tenure to establish
public health funding, standards and initiatives. He advocated for
“universal sickness insurance” as well.
Another history lesson explains the name ‘the flu of 1918’ was
erroneously given. The 1918 influenza is called the Spanish Flu, but
not because it originated in Spain. Spain was neutral in both world
wars. The national press in the warring countries was censored;
the Spanish press was not. Newspapers freely reported the rapidly
spreading illness, and this gave the wrong impression of its origin in
Spain. Based on this history and to prevent prejudice and discrimination,
the World Health Organization recommended to call illnesses
by their scientific designations only, not their presumed origin.
One of the most fascinating parts of the book is the description of
the US medical establishment in the early 1900s. Abraham Flexner’s
abysmal verdict on medical schools is fully recounted. Abraham
and his brother Simon, both Louisville natives, contributed enormously
to how doctors and scientists fought the pandemic and,
in the process, came to lead major institutions. Abraham would
be the Director of the Institute of Advanced Study: the man who
hired Albert Einstein.
BOOK REVIEW
Medical research at US universities such as Harvard, Pennsylvania,
Johns Hopkins and Michigan was coming of age with help
from philanthropy. Men like William Welch, founder of the first
US school of public health at Johns Hopkins, and Simon Flexner,
polio and meningitis researcher and inventor of its antiserum, led
the young generation of US scientists. The Rockefeller Institute of
Research was founded after death by scarlet fever of John D. Rockefeller’s
grandson in 1901. The Institute and its director from 1901
until 1935, Simon Flexner, played a big role in the book and in the
unraveling of the medical mystery of what caused the pandemic.
The author started his work in 1997, curious about America’s
response to the greatest pandemic on record, a war of nature on
humanity. He summarizes his lessons about the fear of the unknown
killer in 1918 and 1919 that threatened to break society apart. “The
biggest problem lies in the relationship between the government and
the truth. Those in authority must retain the public trust. Distort
nothing, put the best face on nothing, try to manipulate no one.”
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic of 2020 will be the topic of many
books. I hope these books will be as well written as John Barry’s
book, but give more reason to hope.
Dr. Kloecker is a Professor/Gratis Faculty at the University of Louisville School of
Medicine and practices thoracic oncology at St. Elizabeth Healthcare.
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