If you subscribe to BBC History Magazine Print or Digital Editions then you can unlock 10 years’ worth of archived history material fully searchable by Topic, Location, Period and Person. You can unsubscribe at any time. The historical record forces us to ask which trajectory will be more sustainable: a commitment to changing individual behaviour to bring lasting improvement in public well-being, or a growing backlash against onerous health regulations that could allow the virus to infect many thousands more victims? Despite a swift quarantine response in October 1918, cases of Spanish flu began to appear in Australia in early 1919. In Tucson, Arizona, mechanic C Sutton admitted to not wearing a mask but claimed “it was not safe to do so, as it would have interfered with his vision and rendered himself liable to injury from the machine.” In Santa Barbara, California, Dr J Clifford responded to his arrest with a pledge to “fight this case” because “I, as a physician, do not believe that the mask as prescribed by the board of health is of any use whatsoever in preventing the spread of an epidemic.” In Pueblo, Colorado, steel worker James McLaughlan defied an officer’s repeated requests to don the mask, “stating that he recently came from Chicago where the wearing of masks was considered injurious to the health”. In a second photograph, a policeman wearing a mask speaks directly to a woman with no mask. Save a huge 50% when you subscribe including free UK delivery! Two weeks later, on 1 February, the mask order was rescinded again, as the influenza situation improved enough to allow normal public behaviours to resume. We need to learn the right lessons from the failure of flu masks in 1918. By entering your details, you are agreeing to HistoryExtra terms and conditions and privacy policy. Catalonia also pulls out all the stops to celebrate carnival. By contrast, those charged with violating mask requirements for specific occupations were more likely to come from lower-middle social strata that included mechanics, conductors, or clerks. These two cases from 1918 should resonate with citizens all over the world in the summer of 2020, some of whom are struggling to comply with mask orders, recommendations, and regulations in response to COVID-19. The finer the mesh, the better the gauze would be at filtering out respiratory droplets, or so the thinking went. Save 50% on your favourite history magazine! In Fort Wayne, Indiana, C McKown was arrested when he defied a request from a police officer to put on a mask while riding a streetcar. Masks and disabilities. There seems to be a problem, please try again. Lynch “was so vehement that the city or anybody could not make him put on a mask that the policeman took him in tow to the city dispensary of justice”. The differential impact of ordinances and enforcement were fully expressed in the number of Ogden citizens fined for violating the mask ordinance while doing their jobs. Williams had asthma, so wearing a mask was “a miserable experience”, according to her physician. Predominant Role of Bacterial Pneumonia as a Cause of Death in Pandemic Influenza, (RELATED: Did Anthony Fauci Sit On The Clinton Foundation’s Board For 20 Years? Experts reviewing evidence from 1918 concluded that flu masks failed to control infection. – Your friends at Zenefits. Masks that looked like ‘slabs of ravioli’ Resisters complained about appearance, comfort and freedom, even after the flu killed an estimated 195,000 Americans in … The study found that a majority of the deaths were caused by secondary bacterial pneumonia related to influenza infection. If someone with a disability is unable to wear a mask or alternate face covering (like a face shield), they can request a reasonable accommodation from the business. Why was there a backlash against face masks during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918? Policemen in Seattle wearing masks made by the Red Cross, during the influenza epidemic. It was the … (sports: protective equipment) máscara protectora nf + adj: face mask n noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc. Mantente Seguro, amigos! Who knew this and wrote about it in 2008? Spanish words for mask include máscara, enmascarar, ocultar, mascarilla, encubrir, careta, antifaz, disfraz and carátula. In early December 1918, two women were fined for violating the mask ordinance in Ogden, Utah. The post features a screen grab of two tweets from the Twitter user @ColleenHuberNMD. The Spanish Flu was a lethal virus in 1918–9 that is estimated to have infected a third of the world’s population and left upwards of 50 million dead. In Sacramento, California, Frank Bobich told police he would rather “be killed or hanged” than cover his face, even though he had a mask in his pocket. E Thomas Ewing is a professor in the Department of History at Virginia Tech and the associate dean for graduate studies and research at the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases confirmed in an email to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the study had nothing to do with masks and noted that secondary bacterial pneumonias have long been associated with severe influenza in human and animal studies. Here he explains the reasons why, and asks what lessons can be learned…. To combat the Spanish flu, Americans were told to make face masks with four to six layers of fine mesh gauze — which is what was used in hospitals. He teaches courses in Russian, European, and world history. The pneumonia was “caused when bacteria that normally inhabit the nose and throat invaded the lungs along a pathway created when the [influenza] virus destroyed the cells that line the bronchial tubes and lungs,” per a news release about the study. Even in the early stages of the mask orders in Ogden, the newspaper described willing participation and demonstrated reluctance; both patterns of widespread social behaviour appeared to cut across social class. You're now subscribed to our newsletter. S Hill, aged 21, was arrested for “waiting on customers without wearing a mask”, and I Ikemott, a restaurant owner, was “charged with not wearing a mask while he waited on patrons”. The majority of deaths in the Spanish Influenza pandemic “likely resulted directly from secondary bacterial pneumonia caused by common upper respiratory-tract bacteria,” the study found. To combat the Spanish flu, Americans were told to make face masks with four to six layers of fine mesh gauze — which is what was used in hospitals. Dr. Anthony Fauci.”, While Fauci did co-author a 2008 study titled “Predominant Role of Bacterial Pneumonia as a Cause of Death in Pandemic Influenza,” the Facebook post and tweets misrepresent its findings. In Ogden, the decision to revoke the mask ordinance occurred relatively quickly, on 9 December, just a few days after the arrests described above. At no point does the study mention face masks or attempt to point to them as the cause of such bacteria pneumonia. Determining that Reynolds had “not willfully, but carelessly” forgotten the mask order, the judge fined her $5. Both of these widespread public behaviours in one city with moderate mask policies provide a cautionary warning for dealing with COVID-19 in 2020. The caption, “Get one like this right away,” suggests the officer is warning the woman to put on a mask. The fact that two of those arrested, Rayama and Ikemott, were identified as “Japanese” suggests that these laws reinforced structured forms of racism that concentrated certain ethnicities in specific service occupations where masks were required. The resolution of the mask situation in Ogden suggests important lessons for today. Like today, as governments around the world try to contain the spread of COVID-19, American citizens were asked to wear face masks in order to reduce the spread of the illness. You have successfully linked your account! In this context, the arrest of a physician such as Dr Clifford for a health regulation violation suggests an unusually deliberate infraction by a member of middle-to-upper-class American society. Our research also suggests that many violations of mask ordinances resulted, as in the cases from Ogden cited above, from indifference, ignorance, or convenience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. As Americans were celebrating victory in World War I in the fall of 1918, the masks on returning troops showed that the U.S. was losing another war against the so-called Spanish Flu. It was the … But why? No worries! The cases of Williams and Reynolds are especially suggestive of a backlash against these regulations: masks were uncomfortable, difficult for those with certain health conditions, and could be easily forgotten. ). Fact-checkers have previously debunked the notion that wearing masks can cause pneumonia. In Bakersfield, California, with a population under 20,000, John Lynch was arrested “for deliberately declining to wear a mask in a local picture theater” after he was advised to put on the mask. Fauci and his colleagues examined “lung tissue sections obtained during 58 autopsies and reviewed pathologic and bacteriologic data from 109 published autopsy series that described 8,398 individual autopsy investigations,” according to the study. The finer the mesh, the better the gauze would be at filtering out respiratory droplets, or so the thinking went. In 1918, advanced masks like the N95s that healthcare workers use today were a long way off. Officials feared mass hysteria in major cities. The official website for BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed, Save up to 50% on a BBC History Magazine or BBC History Revealed subscription, At the height of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918–9, many Americans refused to wear face masks designed to reduce the spread of the illness. Principal Translations: Inglés: Español: face mask n noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc. The suggestion that these defendants “regarded their appearance in no very serious fashion” indicates that the ordinance failed to change behaviour. Everything you ever wanted to know about... Spanish flu: the virus that changed the world, a masked policeman has custody of two men, The best historical TV shows and movies to stream in 2021, A history of pandemics: from Spanish Flu to Covid-19, From ‘moon-germs’ to motion sickness: health and safety on NASA’s 1969 lunar landing mission.
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