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The multitude of conspiracy theories around the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease it causes makes you dizzy. However, there is nothing special about it. Earlier epidemics have also been accompanied by conspiracy theories and waves of mistrust in science. What were the craziest theories during the 1918 Spanish epidemic? Medical News Today decided to put them together.
- According to WHO estimates, in the years 1918-1919, about 40 million people died because of the flu epidemic, known as the Spanish one. Other estimates say there could have been up to three times as many of them
- In 1918, as well as today, there were allegations that the pandemic was invented to promote the interests of pharmaceutical companies. The German pharmaceutical company that produced aspirin was to be responsible for the development of the epidemic
- Another theory, again blaming the Germans, was that they spray the virus with submarines that sail to the shores of the United States
- In Spain, the 1918 flu was called the French flu. In Poland it was said that it was a Bolshevik disease
- You can find more up-to-date information from the country and the world, as well as historical curiosities, on the main page of TvoiLokony
Spaniard – A Pandemic That Has Killed Millions
In 1918, when the epidemic of flu, known as the Spanish flu, broke out in the world, there was no shortage of conspiracy theories emerging today. According to WHO, about 1918 million people died from Spanish in 1919-40, although some estimates assume that there were up to three times more deaths. As the flu began to spread around the world, governments and local governments tried hard to contain the damage it was causing. On October 6, 1918, a government statement appeared in a Greek newspaper warning that:
Disease germs enter the body through the mouth and generally through the respiratory system. […] The disease is often spread by coughing and is transmitted through the air. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid [mental] stress and overwork […]. All schools should be closed, we encourage you to scrupulously keep your underwear and hands clean. In particular, it is recommended to avoid close contact with anyone who shows flu symptoms.
Sounds familiar? In 1918, governments, like today, encouraged frequent hand washing and the wearing of face masks. And just like today, also in 1918, dangerous conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus and the epidemic as a whole appeared shortly after.
See also: Spanish woman: what you don’t know about the biggest epidemic in history? [WE EXPLAIN]
The epidemic works in favor of pharmaceutical companies
Pharmaceutical companies are deliberately spreading disease to promote and sell pharmaceutical products. A conspiracy theory that is doing well now emerged during the Spanish pandemic of 1918. There have been rumors in the United States and Great Britain that the pandemic was triggered to encourage people to use aspirin produced by a German pharmaceutical company.
The distrust of German pharmaceuticals is not as strange as it might seem. The beginning of the pandemic coincided with the end of World War I, with Germany and the United States standing on opposite sides of the barricade.
As you can guess, the theory caused quite a stir, and the American branch of the company did everything to reassure potential buyers in the US. There was even an advertisement stating that the production of aspirin tablets and capsules of the German company is completely under American control.
See: Coronavirus fake news. They spread rapidly
Interestingly, later studies showed that aspirin might actually worsen some flu symptoms, not because it simply was, but because doctors prescribed too high doses of the drug. A study suggesting this relationship was published in 2009 in the journal “Clinical Infectious Diseases”. According to the author of the study, Dr.Karen Starko, at the time, doctors routinely prescribed doses of 8,0-21,2 grams of aspirin per day, unaware that it could cause hyperventilation and pulmonary edema in some people.
“Just before the sharp rise in deaths in 1918, aspirin was prescribed in regimens that we know today to be potentially toxic and cause pulmonary edema. This could have contributed to the overall pandemic mortality »writes Dr. Starko.
Zobacz: COVID-19 pandemic could be as dire as the Spanish epidemic in 1918
The Spanish flu virus as a biological weapon
The appearance of the new virus in China finally caused a great commotion around the world. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, like its brothers SARS and MERS, are zoonotic coronaviruses. Nevertheless, from time to time there were rumors in the media that SARS-CoV-2 was created in a laboratory, then got out of control (or was released on purpose) and spread across the globe. The conspiracy theories also include the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is a biological weapon used to depopulate society.
Similar theories also followed the 1918 flu virus. One rumor, found in the pages of a Brazilian newspaper, said that the flu virus had spread around the world due to German submarines. Similar theories were that German boats landing on the east coast of the United States released the virus into the atmosphere. According to an account in Gina Kolata’s book Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It, there were witnesses who saw a toxic cloud spread over Boston when a camouflaged German ship approached the port.
Considering that the Germans are again accused of causing the epidemic, it is strange that the pandemic was not called German … Later in Kolata’s book he describes another rumor that the Germans sneaked into the city with vials full of germs and began to release them in theaters and at rallies.
Controversial nomenclature indicating “guilty”
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, before it even got its name, often appeared as the Wuhan or China (corona) virus. The nomenclature was unfortunate and xenophobic because it implied that a specific country or population is responsible for the emergence and spread of the pathogen. There has been an increase in racism against the Asian people around the world.
The case was similar in 1918. The flu, known to this day as “Spanish” or “Spanish”, did not come from Spain and its origin is still unknown. So where did the idea to associate one of the biggest pandemics in the world with Spain come from?
According to an article published in 2008 in “Clinical Infrctious Diseases”, the name “Spanish” probably appeared as a result of misinformation surrounding news about the origin of the pandemic.
It is assumed that because Spain was a neutral country during World War I, freedom of the press was greater there than in allied countries and in Germany. The US and European press, possibly for political reasons, have failed to confirm or report up-to-date and accurate information on the military and civilian casualties attributable to the ongoing flu epidemic.
Although ‘Spanish flu’ remains the best known term, the disease has taken different names from country to country. In Spain it was called the former “French flu”. possibly due to the fact that Spanish seasonal workers traveled by trains to and from France, prompting the Spanish authorities to assume that they had “imported” the virus from France.
In Brazil, the term “German flu” was adopted, in Poland it was called “Ukrainian”, “beef”, and even “Bolshevik disease”, and in Senegal, “Brazilian flu”. It can be seen that each country named the virus after its political opponent.
- Anti-mask movements during the Spanish pandemic. Shootings, arrests and special masks for women
Why do conspiracy theories have so many followers?
Myths and conspiracy theories about the epidemic both now and 100 years ago were spreading rapidly and quickly gaining an audience. Why? Medical News Today cites a 2017 study in Current Directions in Psychological Science which said that conspiracy theories provide a quick and acceptable explanation of problems for which there really are no simple answers and solutions.
Scientists believe that people believe in conspiracy theories for three reasons:
- they need ready-made causal explanations for certain problems or phenomena in order to regain a sense of certainty (epistemic motives);
- have a need to regain control over their own situation or the environment (existential motives);
- they want to belong and maintain a positive image of themselves and of the society they belong to or want to belong to (social motives).
Both the 1918 influenza virus and the 2 SARS-CoV-2020 virus are shrouded in a mystery of sorts: scientists and governments do not provide quick and easy solutions, nor are they able to answer the questions of how long the virus will be dangerous and how effective it is stop.
Available security measures – keeping distance, wearing masks, limiting contacts, cause anxiety and alienation, and also affect mental health. The anxiety of times of crisis prompts people to seek answers and solutions everywhere, and conspiracy theories seem to meet those needs.
Experts have repeatedly proven that belief in conspiracy theories does more harm than good, harming public health and social well-being. The current pandemic and the pandemic 100 years ago can teach us important things about crisis management, but only if we want to learn from these lessons and learn from our mistakes.
The editorial board recommends:
- During the Spanish epidemic, the children returned to school. How did it end?
- Pandemics of the world. Which took the most casualties?
- Harmful myths about COVID-19
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