1976: Fear of a great plague.

[elocs]

http://www.capitalcentury.com/1976.html

On the cold afternoon of February 5, 1976, an Army recruit told his drill instructor at Fort Dix that he felt tired and weak but not sick enough to see military medics or skip a big training hike.

Within 24 hours, 19-year-old Pvt. David Lewis of Ashley Falls, Mass., was dead, killed by an influenza not seen since the plague of 1918-19, which took 500,000 American lives and 20 million worldwide.

Two weeks after the recruit's death, health officials disclosed to America that something called "swine flu" had killed Lewis and hospitalized four of his fellow soldiers at the Army base in Burlington County.

The ominous name of the flu alone was enough to touch off civilian fear of an epidemic. And government doctors knew from tests hastily conducted at Dix after Lewis' death that 500 soldiers had caught swine flu without falling ill.

I clearly remember this part of the scare:

Only young Lewis died from the swine flu itself in 1976. But as the critics are quick to point out, hundreds of Americans were killed or seriously injured by the inoculation the government gave them to stave off the virus.

I never had a flu shot then and I have never had any flu shot and I won't start now either. There are plenty of real and tangible things we need to fear now, but this is not one of them.

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. One death versus 70 (out of c. 1000 known cases)...

not comparable.

And a shot wouldn't do any good; this is a new and previously unknown strain, and there is no vaccine for it (nor should it become epidemic sufficient time to make the vaccine stocks that would be necessary).

The number of deaths in Mexico may be die to a number of factors external to the flu itself (poverty, poor nutrition, standard of medical care), but it's not something to just shrug off, either.

[elocs]

3. Personally, I'm going to shrug it off.

It's a sad fact that in this country thousands of people die everyday from a wide variety of things. I refuse to live a life that is directed by fear and panic. Swine flu: been there, done that, heard the fearful panic cry before.

[MercutioATC]

12. Isn't there a middle ground between "panic" and "shrugging it off"?

I'm doing neither. I'm staying informed and (if I wasn't already thoroughly prepped for most things) I'd be making some simple, low-cost preparations.

Why do so many here at DU insist on ignoring an issue because the only alternative to them seems to be panicking?

[dem629]

14. Because these media hype stories always end the same way.

[MercutioATC]

15. I see, so if you get advance warning you're determined not to use it...

...because it was advance warning.


A kind of circular argument, don't you think?

[elocs]

24. I certain there is, but my personal choice is shrugging it off.

I don't need anything more than the things I always have on hand anyways. I have a lot more real and tangible things to concern myself with.

[John1956PA]

2. I, too, bypassed the 1976 flu shot, but I got my first one last October.

After a few miserable bouts with the flu in recent years, I got a flu shot in October of last year. The flu symptoms which I experienced this flu season (in February) were not as severe as those which I suffered in recent years. Therefore, I think I will get another flu shot this coming October.

[elocs]

10. I cannot even begin to remember the last time I had the flu.

I'm sure I've had the flu, but it has been very mild and I probably thought it was just a cold.

[Mojorabbit]

16. If you have the flu you know it

it isn't anything like a cold.

[elocs]

17. Cold versus flu:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/coldflu.htm

Cold Versus Flu
What is the difference between a cold and the flu?

The flu and the common cold are both respiratory illnesses but they are caused by different viruses. Because these two types of illnesses have similar flu-like symptoms, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. In general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems, such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations.
How can you tell the difference between a cold and the flu?

Because colds and flu share many symptoms, it can be difficult (or even impossible) to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Special tests that usually must be done within the first few days of illness can be carried out, when needed to tell if a person has the flu.
What are the symptoms of the flu versus the symptoms of a cold?

In general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems, such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations.

[Mojorabbit]

19. exactly nt

[elocs]

21. My point being that it is not simple to tell if you have only a cold or the flu:

Because colds and flu share many symptoms, it can be difficult (or even impossible) to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Special tests that usually must be done within the first few days of illness can be carried out, when needed to tell if a person has the flu.

[John1956PA]

27. My two flu bouts gave me an intense DRY cough unlike that of any cold I ever had.

My flu-related DRY coughs were so violent that I thought that I was going to rupture a blood vessel in my lungs or blow out my aorta. I have had plenty of head/chest colds in my time, but the coughs which I had in my two flu bouts were unlike coughs associated with said head/chest colds. Also, near the end of their courses, said two flu bouts produced voluminous runnings of a clear, thin fluid from my nose. Again, said symptom was unlike any other runny noses I ever had associated with head colds. Also, said two cases of flu caused my balance to be impaired to the point that I almost fell to the floor a few times. I never lost my balance with any head colds which I have suffered. As someone pointed out on this thread, if you have a severe case of the flu, you know that it is not a cold. I was lucky until almost age fifty. By not having had a severe case of the flu up until that time, I did not know of its danger. (After the first episode, I was not smart enough to realize that it was the flu, but, instead, I attributed my symptoms to some sort of once-in-a-lifetime respiratory infection.) But, now that I have have come to better understand it, I fear the flu. Maybe a flu shot does not really do much good, or maybe it presents an appreciable risk. However, based upon my experiences in the past few years, I have to opt for the choice of receiving another flu shot later this year.

[elocs]

33. We are Democrats here and we like choice. My personal choice based upon my experience and opinion

is to choose not to get a flu shot. I do not claim that should be a blanket choice for everyone. The article and text I cited indicates that it is not easy to recognize whether one has the flu or a cold simply based upon the symptoms because they are similar. I think if you have a mild case of the flu (not all flu cases are severe or debilitating)you might mistake it for a cold.

[bulloney]

4. Johnny Carson called swine flu, "The cure for which there is no known disease."

[csziggy]

29. I think Dave Barry's Martian Death Flu must have been the '76 swine flu

We have the flu. I don't know if this particular strain has an official name, but if it does, it must be something like "Martian Death Flu". You may have had it yourself. The main symptom is that you wish you had another setting on your electric blanket, up past "HIGH", that said "ELECTROCUTION".

Another symptom is that you cease brushing your teeth, because (a) your teeth hurt, and (b) you lack the strength. Midway through the brushing process, you'd have to lie down in front of the sink to rest for a couple of hours, and rivulets of toothpaste foam would dribble sideways out of your
mouth, eventually hardening into crusty little toothpaste stalagmites that would bond your head permanently to the bathroom floor, which is how the police would find you.

You know the kind of flu I'm talking about.

-- Dave Barry, "Molecular Homicide"

I had it when I read his original column and almost literally coughed myself to death. I passed out from laughing/coughing and could not catch a breath for hours without stabbing pains.

[depakid]

5. " I never had a flu shot then and I have never had any flu shot and I won't start now either."

Like most hard headed types, you'll change your mind the first time you have a nasty A strain....

[elocs]

7. No, I don't think so, but you evidently know better about me than I do. n/t

[depakid]

8. I just know about foolhardy people- and what it usually takes

for them to get a clue.

[elocs]

11. I wonder if the local music teacher who got Guillain-Barre syndrome after getting a swine flu shot

in 1976 and was completely paralyzed for months got a clue? I base my choices on experience and not being a foolhardy sheeple.

[newfie11]

13. That also happened to my sister

she still has partial facial paralysis.

No I don't do flu shots but I do think this new flu is concerning.

[depakid]

18. Ah, more anti-vaccine nuttery

Perhaps I mistook foolhardiness for mere stupidity.

Not that the two are unrelated.

[elocs]

22. My personal cure for judgmental know-it-alls: IGNORE. It works every time. n/t

[newfie11]

25. Perhaps you should get an education.

If you can tolerate the big words then maybe you might read up on what the CDC has to say on Swine flu vaccine.
Or maybe you don't believe them either.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/emergency/swineflu.htm

Happy reading!!!

[depakid]

28. That has nothing at all to do with current influenza vaccinations

And yes, it is indeed stupidity to avoid vaccination for fear of a long ago and rare adverse event- or for the many other "scary" reasons people cite.

[dflprincess]

31. There were problems with the swine flu vaccine

including quite a few deaths. They seemed to come up with the vaccine awfully fast (though my memory may be wrong about that) maybe that was the problem.

And before you label me as being anti-vaccine, I do get a flu shot every year and I had a tetnus booster last summer.

[cwydro]

6. I remember it too.

Many people sickened by the vaccine, quite seriously too.

[TexasObserver]

9. The timing is convenient, and the lack of geographic pattern curious.

I'll not be subjecting myself to any vaccines that may suddenly become in great demand.

[depakid]

26. The geographic dispersion is not at all unusual

considering the nature of modern travel and the populations involved.

[DianeK]

20. i remember that time vividly

I was pregnant with my first child and I did stand in a long line at an elementary school awaiting my turn for the shot that I never would have gotten but for the fact that I was pregnant. It was the only flu shot I ever had

[Vidar]

23. Didn't think it was that long ago. Damn.

[lovuian]

30. We are being attacked just like the Anthrax

bull crap

They purposely dug up the 1918 plague

they will want to round up people and put them in camps and quarantine

the WORST thing to do

[omega minimo]

32. Yes, we need to fear being treated like swine. That and "fear itself"

[Joe the Revelator]

34. So said a dead relative of yours in 1918

Please bone up on the history of flus and understand that being the "tough guy" in this situation makes you look like you have no grasp of historical context.