Has your household been one of the unfortunate homes to be stricken with a nasty virus in the last few months?
It seems to have hit hard this year and, perhaps, a bit later than usual.
Trail Blazers takes us back to this week in March 1966, when West Kootenay Health Officer, Dr. Nick Schmitt, reported on the high number of people battling influenza, particularly school-aged children.
This was of a global nature and led to several years of flu transmission, in particular the 1968 flu pandemic that infected millions of people around the world.
At the time, Trail schools were reporting a 15 per cent reduction in attendance, which was high for the time of year.
Dr. Schmitt’s office was fielding plenty of calls for access to flu vaccines.
He cautioned, however, that inoculations needed six to eight weeks to prove effective and would likely be futile.
The 1966 flu symptoms sound familiar to what seems to be going around today: high fever, headache, sore throat, hacking dry cough, muscle aches, abdominal cramps and vomiting.
His recommendation?
Stay home and rest.
This hasn’t been the first flu season battled by the citizens of Trail.
Back in the fall of 1918, Trail was in the throes of what was known as the “Spanish” influenza (which, incidentally, did not originate from Spain), when it should have been celebrating the end of the Great War.
The early half of 1918 was deemed the “first wave,” but few statistics were gathered simply because it was not required.
The “second wave,” which hit B.C. and Trail in the summer and fall, was actively tracked, as global movement and wartime conditions were perfect for transmission.
On Oct. 11, 1918, the first ever local mention of the new disease sweeping the globe was published in The Trail News at the request of the city’s Medical Health Officer, tucked away on the fifth page.
The article, entitled, “Practical Advice on Arrest and Control of Influenza,” circulated by the U.S. Surgeon General, described the virus as one with a quick incubation (about two days), caused by secretions from the nose, throat and airways of infected carriers from both direct and indirect contact.
Masks were recommended and crowds and gatherings were discouraged.
Also, “promiscuous coughing and spitting” was deemed highly dangerous.
November was by far the most devastating month for our small city of 4,000.
Doctors estimated over 1,000 cases at the end of November since the onset in mid-October.
After 59 deaths in November alone, council instated a mandatory mask policy when out of the home.
In all, British Columbia reported 2,014 deaths between October and December 1918, and the death toll climbed into 1919, although much more slowly.
Trail reported 66 deaths for the same time period. In the five weeks that proved the deadliest, more people died in Trail from the flu than Trail soldiers who died in the First World War.
A few more deaths were published in the early weeks of 1919, however no formal report was published on the overall death toll.
We can be grateful for modern conveniences and far superior levels of hygiene today.
For all those battling the flu this season, we wish you a speedy recovery!
Sarah Benson-Lord manages the Trail Museum and Archives and Visitor Centre.
