Barry, John M. - The Great Influenza, Parts IX-X
Mon, May. 11th, 2020 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterNow 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
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.
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rachelmanija's post for Parts VIII-IX
(no subject)
Mon, May. 18th, 2020 04:53 am (UTC)