Barry, John M. - The Great Influenza, Parts IX-X

[oyceter]

Now I remember why it took me months to crawl through the end of the book even though the middle was extremely interesting!

Part IX is about the longer-term effects of the pandemic. I have to say, reading about the various waves that came after the first two in 1918 didn't make me super optimistic about the future. Barry details how even though the virus mutated so it was milder (but still would have been the most lethal influenza virus known, except compared to its former self), it continued to sweep through communities for at least a year. San Francisco, which had done well in the extremely awful second wave, declared victory and told people they could take off their masks, only to be struck by a third wave. And then there were more recurrences in the early 1920s.

Barry then goes on to more or less blame WWII on the 1918 influenza pandemic. Much like how SARS-CoV2 has had unforeseen complications, the influenza virus didn't just affect the respiratory system. In some cases, it seemed to do something to the brain. Unfortunately, Woodrow Wilson came down with it (although some accounts say it was a minor stroke) during the Paris Peace Conference as everyone was negotiating the Treaty of Versailles. Wilson, who was apparently all for non-vindictive measures previously, caved to France and England's more punitive demands, and Barry draws a line from Wilson's mental instability due to his bout with the flu to the treaty terms to the eventual rise of the Third Reich. (I, on the other hand, am sure the virus played a role but wasn't the only factor.)

Part X goes on to describe the much longer term effects the pandemic hand on medical science. Kind of. As previously noted, many scientists identified a bacteria as the culprit. Since we know it's a virus, I was waiting for the story of how the scientific community gradually reaches a new consensus. Alas, Barry, ever interested in the great men of medicine, just details the lives of three of the scientists. One of them (William Park) had a female partner (Anna Williams), but she's pretty much left out of the narrative. I don't even remember what Park did.

Oswald Avery pursues the question of what caused the pandemic and ends up researching another bacteria and discovering that DNA contains genetic information.

Then Barry talks about Paul Lewis, who basically... does nothing and disappoints his mentors. He decides to restore his reputation by studying yellow fever and ends up dying from it. Barry notes sadly how Lewis might have contributed had he only lived.

The end!

Me: ... what about the virus?! Who figures that out?!

Barry notes in the afterword that he wanted to show how science isn't always a string of successes. In theory, I approve! In execution, it's terrible! I feel like Barry wanted to write a book about the transformation of American medicine and one about the 1918 pandemic, and squashed them together to the detriment of both.

Hopefully Gina Kolata's Flu will have more information on how they figured out influenza was caused by a virus.

Despite the frustration, still worth reading, particularly the bits directly concerned with the pandemic. You can probably skip anything before and after. In the afterword, Barry talks about how we might prepare for another influenza pandemic, which is what most infectious disease people were most afraid of. I guess a coronavirus upended expectations, but it pretty much has all the traits that made people so afraid of another influenza pandemic—extremely contagious and lethal enough to shut down society. Thank goodness it's not quite as lethal and that it doesn't mutate as much, but still. All Barry's notes about preparation and not lying to the public are great, and I can see why people in the George W. Bush administration read it when trying to prepare for a biological attack. It's too bad none of it seemed to stick.

- rachelmanija's post for Parts VIII-IX

Comments

[rachelmanija]

Barry talks about Paul Lewis, who basically... does nothing

Just like his beloved William Welch! John Barry + male scientists who do nothing = OTP.

I agree, the middle parts are by far the best. It's pretty shocking how similar the US government response to the 1918 influenza is to the US government's response to coronavirus. History is absolutely repeating itself.

I had the same reaction to "Influenza caused WWII!" It's a bit of a reach, IMO.

[oyceter]

But it was only influenza!

I have no idea why he thought detailing the lives of a handful of scientists would give more insight into how the scientific process works vs. actually documenting the scientific process in action and seeing how the overall community reaches one consensus and then is forced to reevaluate with new evidence!

The parts about the government response are so appalling. On the one hand, at least the press isn't just papering things over right now. On the other, the president is mentioning it, just along with horrible misinformation and outright lies.

It was only influenza!

[rachelmanija]

I was so frustrated by his intricate detailing of how they were pursuing the influenza bacillus as a cause, and then... he never finished that story!

I kind of feel like the current US response is worse, just because in addition to everything else, the president is actively preventing states from getting necessary medical equipment and encouraging people to do stuff that will cause the virus to spread. On the other hand, the strictly medical response is way better now, because we know so much more and also have better information-sharing. Even stuff like doctors can share anecdotal experience about what helps and what doesn't via reddit subs and what have you, which can be very useful when patients can't wait on formal studies.

[coffeeandink]

Anna Wessels Williams sounds fascinating and I wish there were a full bio of hee. I may try to find a copy of her autobiography.

[kore]

Barry had access to her papers, including her diaries and letters!....and he uses them mainly to talk about how Lonely and Unfulfilled she was, and that's it.

https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/8/resources/5745

I don't think her autobiography was ever published but you can read some of it here

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/4900flu.0016.094/--autobiography-chapter-22?view=toc

[oyceter]

She sounds super cool and only gets a few sentences in the whole book! Bah.

[kore]

I feel like Barry wanted to write a book about the transformation of American medicine and one about the 1918 pandemic, and squashed them together to the detriment of both.

Yeah, he pretty much admits this in the afterword, and having read a bunch of history of medicine books and history of 1918 pandemic books, he didn't do well at either. It boggles me how this is THE recommended book for learning about the flu pandemic. Kolata's book was okay, but I really liked Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney, which is careful to go into how the flu affected other countries like China, and there's some great stuff on Alaskan tribes too.

I thought Avery and Lewis are supposed to be like the two poles of Great Men Scientists. Avery is awesome, so he goes on to do work in genetics and Barry credits him for starting the search for DNA (no). Lewis is this Doomed Romantic Figure, so he dies and Barry also assumes he maybe committed suicide, which is a bridge too far, like the Woodrow Wilson conjectures. Wilson was plenty terrible all on his own -- the description of him sending the young sailors off on those carriers which became literal plague ships was damning.

[oyceter]

Oh, Pale Rider sounds interesting, thanks! I'm especially interested to know how the flu pandemic affected the rest of the world. Barry mentions it being terrible in India, but doesn't go into a ton of detail.

[oracne]

I definitely recall some interesting science in the Gina Kolata book, some of it relating to looking at samples from bodies in Alaska, I think, but can't remember if there was anything about figuring out virus instead of bacteria.

[oyceter]

I have gotten to the samples now! I am very curious to see how they reconstruct the virus from it.

[starlady]

As previously stated and as you know, Barry's subscription to the Great Man Theory of History is deeply wrong, and I feel quite confident in saying that WWII would have happened regardless of the 1918 influenza pandemic due to a great many structural factors in the international system.

Also Woodrow Wilson, noted racist, is nobody's fucking savior.

[oyceter]

I don't know much about Wilson, but from reading what he did in this book, I was not super impressed by him.