THE ESSAY QUESTIONS:
Both the 1918 and the 2020 pandemics were caused by viruses. Even though they are a century apart, there are several basic characteristics of them that have presented remarkably similar challenges to medicine. What are they?
Compare and contrast the responses that national and local governments employed as they wrestled with combatting the 1918 and COVID-19 pandemics. Where are they alike? Where are they different? Where do you think they failed or succeeded? You might want to look on the Internet at studies of three cities: St. Louis, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, and see how they and their civic, medical, and media leaders did (or didn’t) handle the 1918 pandemic on behalf of their citizens, and then find specific instances of national, state and local governments today that demonstrate the same characteristics and the same good or bad leadership. You will not necessarily find all the answers to these in the 1918 videos, since they don’t cover the present, so be prepared to do some sleuthing around online. The Internet is awash with material on today’s ongoing struggle to contain our current pandemic, with reputable news feeds from CNN, MSNBC, and PBS and others, as well as the local network channels, and some authoritative sources like the New York Times, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Dallas County’s Health and Human Services (DCHHS), and other agencies even have dedicated online Coronavirus briefing features you can avail yourself of in your quest for current material.
Looking back to 1918, and using the context of today’s pandemic, what lessons should we carry forward with regard to the duties of our public officials, as well as our own responsibilities as citizens, when faced with public health crises of this magnitude? Identify examples from both your own experiences with today’s pandemic, and the historical accounts of those faced by Americans in 1918, that illustrate challenging ethical decisions of social responsibility and personal responsibility that people must face in their efforts to live their daily in a society, and those that national, state, and county public health agencies face to uphold their duties to their citizens. Listen very closely to Edna Boone, for instance, and how her small community handled the pandemic. What parallels do you see between their predicament and that of certain socioeconomic groups today, both rural AND urban? You might want to point out your assessment of the role—or lack of it—of government and public agencies in both pandemics as it relates to those two population groups. There’s been a great deal of discussion lately about how “equity” relates to the way the pandemic is being addressed with regard to certain segments of today’s population, so when you listen to Edna talk about her small, rural community, does her experience relate to any equity issues today with regard to how public agencies view addressing (or not addressing) the current pandemic?
Video #1
The American Experience: Influenza 1918 from PBS
Video #2:
1918 Influenza Pandemic Survivor, Edna Boone from youtube