 Alright, this is a review of The Great Influenza, the story of the deadliest pandemic in history by John N. Berry. Scary title, huh? This took seven years to write for him and intended to be much shorter. I'm glad he took the time to write this classic. This is The Great Influenza and Nature's Rage, and I'm talking about the 1918 influenza flu. This disease killed more than war when these dual worlds collided, and anything said in this is not medical advice. Please consult a doctor. I have worked in a hospital so I can pick up on most of the medical terms and a bit of the culture. This book in general is not a history book, it's a cultural and lesson book. The first breakout happened in Haskell, Kansas, for all places. The first cluster, even when it has the nickname the Spanish Flu. And it was a more extreme form, body aches, nosebleeds, pneumonia, which killed most of the people. And the patients termed blue because of the lack of oxygen. They become dark, headaches. And during this whole epidemic, there was a mystery and pressure to find an answer. The plague in general killed one fourth of Europe, this killed 50 million plus around the world. It was a huge outbreak in explosions, speed of the wind, where it was nature versus modern science, and very natural like a wave, or a few waves, not logical. There is balance in the world, and there's new developments, numerical systems, measurement tools, stethoscopes, cholera, and how they found out I was contaminating my water, like typhoid. And they used to prescribe indiscriminately. Imagine that. There was a medical revolution using empiricism, math, Newton's laws, science and achievements. Medical degrees in the United States were easy to get. Europe, on the other hand, had state help to help finance it. The Johns Hopkins Medical College, got a donation in 1893, opened up a new world, a knowledge of not just doing. Science and religion. They didn't have enough supplies back then, equipment or technology, but doing things anyway. There was bleeding to relieve pressure, or they thought it would flabotomy. And it wasn't until 1928 when they had penicillin from antibiotics to help fight bacteria, which was a serious breakthrough, but that was way after this pandemic. And that wasn't even really used till the 1940s. There's a germ theory of disease during this era. William Welch, a teacher and pioneer, had germs in every case, isolated it. See if it's acceptable, or what is susceptible, and isolate away. Just that simple germ theory disease helped out. There's Dr. Koch and tuberculosis, disinfectant. And with Welch being a pioneer, he was free to do extraordinary things that helped advance the movement. And this would help cement the American medical industry. Faculty back then was paid by student fees. Other improvements led to patient care, gloves, and anything to prevent and cure disease, storing blood, linking viruses with cancer, dipheria antitoxins, the Rockefeller Institute. The testing grounds became for labs. There was bureaucratic power, hospitals and government, very important versus truth. And the risk. It cost money for all that. Any reports would hurt morale during a war. Hence why Woodrow never really talked about it. We must win the war. Everywhere is overwhelmed with patience. There are warning systems to public health. Camp Funston, about 1,000 people got sick in the army. It was unpredictable and explosion. An epidemic is local while a pandemic is worldwide. And here's some very basic medical biology and data. Influenza starts in animals. Birds can give track. Pandemics come in waves. Influenza in general kills 60,000 people a year. There's several pandemics a century. Viruses look like a membrane. Influenza enters a cell and binds. So the body has a hard time killing it. It mutates fast in viruses. DNA is hard fixed. RNA not so much. Defenses recognize a foreign antigen and the body reacts. There's immune response, swelling, redness, or fever. The immune system gets stronger. Well, as well as finding vaccines, which can recognize this. An influenza has a protruding mutation. The immune system can't keep pace. Measles antigen are the same. Vaccines take time and there's antigen shift. These connections can be man-to-man. The influenza can transmit and mutate from pigs, from birds to man, then become man-to-man. What's unusual about influenza is it dominates past forms and to get stronger. During bad eras like this, it binds nations together. It was technology in the lab versus the war and disease. What were the troops to do? In fact, the medical corps wanted them to masturbate instead of go to prostitutes and get venereal disease. The nurses were on short supply in the United States and then just being sent out to war. So there's always a shortage. Doctors could hardly do anything. There was overcrowding, especially in the winter. And pneumonia is an after-effect and not just Adobe. Vaccinations could kill and there was so much effort to prevent pneumonia, the time, money, and efforts. It was nature's rage. It was worrisome to see the disease move from February to March to Kansas and then Spain and May, which was neutral during the war. Who wanted to accept blame but everyone else? Influenza during this time striked violently and fast. The virus changes, there was propaganda, quarantines that proved undisciplined. The second wave of this virus was stronger. It was declared over in August but came back. Don't call it a comeback. They were isolating it and containing people. It was out of control in hope of controlling and overcrowded barracks and mixing. It just didn't work. It occurs at an explosion. Docs were overwhelmed and wouldn't even admit people. Nurses were getting sick, the fear, panic. The virus tests society and the parts supporting it. There's gonna be sacrifices and morale, weak morale. The daily life has altered. In Philadelphia and the United States, they didn't cancel the parade. No, they went ahead and did it and a hundred or more had an influenza. They ignored the health professional advice. It was called the Liberty Loan Parade, a parade for patriotism. And these things had a two or four day incubation period. They did not eliminate crowding. They ran out of ambulances so they used mules and a cart to transfer bodies. It was a shorter supply of getting them. Overwork, disease, there's bribes, queuing, lines. Prisoners were used as gravediggers. Resorts were quiet and it was a time to embrace uncertainty. Interesting times. And at the height of these epidemics, there's a peak death in hospitalization where it just overcrowded and Woodward Wilson took no note of the disease. He must get the victory. No assistance. There's a bureaucracy of military and government sending boys to war and flu. Deal with it now or wait. You could quarantine and then send them on a ship which was packed and this won't remind you of a certain cruise ship. There's excellent leadership in public health but often they're ignored. Doctors and nurses are resourced. Even if they were tired, even if they knew any skill, they would come back or try to urge them to come back. Nurses were harder to find than doctors. And the Philadelphia death hole was so high because there was no nurses and they still had that parade. The doctors were ignored by the press. Undertakers were hired to dig up for the bodies. Volunteers didn't want to react with patients. And we could all understand that. It was work or fight or no work. Sick and afraid. It was a time of terror. Reluctance to health. Silence replicated everywhere. And just when they say the epidemic is waning and they said, oh, it's just dry. It was just distressed of words. How to dodge the flu. Don't get scared. All panic. There's no cause for alarm if proper precautions are taken. That is redundant line used everywhere. The news and the headlines, don't get scared. Don't get scared. And people are just gonna get scared. They're blaming any enemy for epidemics. People die quickly. There's a destruction of intimacy from people. Just a casual walk. Fear. Wear a mask if you need spit or cough. Even the dogs might carry. They were slain dogs. Dogs prescribed morphine, codeine, aspirin for the pain or cough. Even heroin. It did not discriminate between the weak and the young. It was like a bully. It killed young adults because their immune response was so strong. And virus was a hunter in cities. Dense cities. And then followed men wherever. The Eskimos story in this is deep. Even when we reached the Eskimos. All strands on the other hand were kept the quarantine out by being stringent for the most part. And the third wave of this virus has psychological and delirium effects. However, it was the second wave that did most of the damage. Most people don't want to speak of this area. You don't hear about this in many books. This affect all class, especially high dense areas. Most governments lost trust because they lied. They lied for the war effort. We don't really know how many people died because the record keeping was not worth it. William Welch and all the doctors they gave up searching, not understanding it. And later on, even after the pandemic, it still carried on till 1930 with the swine flu which came from the 1918 influenza. It still has a lasting effect. Here are some lessons and tips. What can we learn from this? History doesn't necessarily repeat itself but there are cycles. The next pandemic are white swan events and not black swan events. The pandemic comes in waves. There's surveillance. We could see this. John Barry even calls out China as lies in this book concerning other diseases. There's vaccines which takes time. There's nothing worse than rescribing a bad vaccine. Some of the worst are inhaled primary transmissions. It's in the air. You can get it from doorknobs and humidity can help dampen it. People will eventually go void going out, hardly any deliveries. And social distancing is the key. Not crowded dense cities or military camps. Hospitals in general are cost cutters. There's profit involved. There's dysfunction. It's a little corrupt. And there's always fear that there wouldn't be enough respirators and beds or ventilators for that matter. The medical personnel can be overwhelmed and they fall ill as well. And this new area, antibiotics can help save people's lives because it gets rid of the secondary transmission, the bacteria. Flu in general kills 650K in the US annually. Swine flu killed 12,000 in the USA. And we have to ease the strain on healthcare. There's supply chains, disruptions. Go simple, food, basic walk, quarantine. Enforce rigid quarantine and have rigid hospital care, no shortcuts. Hand washing, stay home if sick, cough and elbow versus hands. And a big lesson is to understand the media and the government. And when I talk about this, I'm talking most about the government and the truth, because they can buy out the media. There is denial. It poses a threat. And during some times, certain governments want to capitalize on patriotism. Overcrowding is really bad in general and will shape the future of cities. Having control and self-control, self-discipline and not going out of control with the emotion versus reason. And media can minimize this, the emotional effects. And another dynamic is to understand the business and economy and the politicians. Disease exists. It's an economy of war. So you can say, sir, excuse me, there is a disease out there. And by doing more work, you're making it worse for yourself. In other words, you're gonna make more work for yourself in the long run. And doctors on the rise died to find a cure on the job training, on the job death. So here's some other books to check out. As I wind this down is Gun, Germs and Steel and the book, Sapiens, which I did do a book of you on. And here are my last thoughts. Quarantine and isolation works. There's lessons to be learned from this. As this is not just a history book. Say no to crowds and you want an honest government. Truth and lies, it is better as a lie to save panic. There's truth and lies. Is it better to lie to save the panic? They can suppress the information. We can all gain by not having them do that. Be careful of volunteers. They really shouldn't be volunteering. There should be upgrades in personnel and quarantine. And you can look back at honor and raise male doctors as well as male talent. There is that trained medical staff that is lacking during the crisis. Being prepared is king. Hire talent who actually work. And if you don't do that, you're adding more kindling to the tender box. When you light that box of matches, drensen, gasoline, you're gonna get what you're gonna get. Use sanitary methods. No overcrowding because this is gonna create more work for you in the long run. Discipline is freedom. And they were creating in the past a bigger prism for themselves. It's not an era of work, but slow like an elephant or the bear market. There's nature's rage. And when it's crazy out there, we need good leadership. Good medical expertise. I'm not just a transporter. I'm a transporter of the truth. And I do not promote volunteering in a hospital. There's always room to hire in the hospital. And this is a great book. Make sure you read this.