President Woodrow Wilson was also plagued by the epidemic and became infected


In an interview with CNN, Berry added, “So the government lied to maintain morale during the war.” “National public health leaders say things like, ‘This is another common influenza.’ They tried to reduce it. As a result, more people died than otherwise. “

Wilson already had a local crisis – a world war – to worry about, creating post-epidemic thinking.

“He had an OCD personality and he focused intensely on the war, the period,” Barry said. “Nothing distracts them.”

But Howard Merkel, a physician and medical historian at the University of Michigan, disagrees that Wilson denies the epidemic. The federal government was much smaller in that era, he said, as it had a limited role in public health.

At the time, there were no federal health agencies, such as disease control and prevention centers or national organizations for health. Merkel told CNN that the government’s role was limited to war, tax collection and federal legislation. Local governments played a major role in health issues.

Wilson’s administration kept his illness a secret

Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis is an extraordinary development a month before the presidential election. He has rejected expert guidance on wearing masks and keeping social distance events, as the virus has killed more than 208,000 people across the country.

At age 74 and obese, he falls into the high-risk category for serious complications of the disease.

Wilson did not have a clear picture of health when he contracted the flu at the age of 63. Prior to the illness, he had suffered from a number of health problems, including asthma and stroke. While he was in Paris he contracted the flu in 1919, where he spent several months for a post-war peace treaty.

Nurses look after canvas tents outside victims of the 1918 flu pandemic.

Wilson became ill and so seriously liked her, her doctor initially thought she would be poisoned in an attempted murder. He started delusions surrounded by spies. But his administration kept his illness a secret. At that time there was no television and no social media so he could not work very hard.

“He thought the French people were spying on him. He also believed he was personally responsible for all the things like furniture (in his room).” “If it weren’t for the president, it would have been fun to die in the middle of the peace conference.”

His well-being and U.S. Upon his return, Wilson embarked on a national tour to support his peace treaty. He had a stroke later that year and died in 1924.

The 1918 flu killed mostly young people

While the epidemic of the last century – it was often referred to as the “Spanish flu”, although it did not originate in Spain – had similarities to the coronavirus, there were some differences.

With the flu, people had horrible symptoms such as bleeding from the nose, mouth, eyes and ears. The 1918 virus also largely killed the young man, much to the astonishment of researchers. The mortality rate was particularly high in children aged 20-40 years and under 5 years.

Nurses with stretchers for flu victims in 1918.

“About two-thirds of the deaths were between the ages of 18-50, and the death toll was 28,” Barry said. “Soldiers, of course, were the main target in that age group. U.S. military training camps had an apparently high mortality rate.”

An atmosphere of fear prevailed over the nation as people started turning on each other.

Barry added, “Because they couldn’t believe what was being said, the real terror was caught by some people, so society itself began to wander and it became everyone for itself,” Barry added. “It’s different from most disasters, when people come together to help each other.”

Masks were also an issue then

This would seem familiar. In 1918, public health officials strongly recommended that people wear face masks to prevent the spread of the virus. They also issued social distance guidelines and urged people to practice proper hygiene.

But at the time, Americans who did not wear masks did not make political statements.

Like the coronavirus, opponents advocated the use of masks.  This photo was taken in March 1919 in Paris.

Alexander Navarro, assistant director of the University’s Center for the History of Medicine and Medicine, said: Said Alexander Navarro, assistant director of the center. Michigan.

With the country at war, wearing a mask was seen as patriotic. Those who did not wear them were embarrassed in public service announcements and news headlines for their notoriety.

“Many elected officials as well as public health officials were telling people to wear masks as part of their civic duty,” Navarro told CNN. “They were trying to tap into the idea that if you don’t fight there with our boys abroad, you can do your part here on the home front.

The flu spread in 1920 after killing more than 50 million people worldwide. No flu has been reported as fatal before or since.

CNN’s Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman contributed to this report.

.