Face Mask In Spanish Flu
In 1918 america adopted mask wearing with a greater vengeance than anywhere else in the world.
Face mask in spanish flu. I m quoted as saying the gauze masks of 1918 may not have been much use to the user but did offer protection. Vaccines were also developed but as these were based on bacteria and not the actual virus they could only help with. Mandating the mask a patriotic act. Anti mask sentiment goes back 100 years to spanish flu pandemic.
But a century later it is asian countries which have remembered the lessons the us learned. By the end of fall of 1918 seven cities of the usa had. Two women in 1918 in seattle sit on their front porch holding two cats which have been kitted out with face masks to protect them from the spanish flu which griped the world at the time. In california a man was shot.
Although the united states and the other. Wearing face masks became common in some places such as japan though there were debates over their efficacy. However my statement at the end of the article applied historically is not correct by itself. The spanish flu was deadlier than wwi.
It was a culture war then too. A pandemic was raging. It s a fascinating exploration of the politics of masks in california during the 1918 flu and the fact that mayor davie of oakland was jailed for not wearing a mask in sacramento. In tampa there were arrests and fines.
The first recorded infection was in a u s. Gauze masks were fairly common in hospitals by the time the great influenza pandemic arrived in the united states in 1918. The spanish flu ushered in a new era in the history of face masks when for the first time doctors patients as well as residents in america were asked to wear the mask outside their homes. There was also some resistance to their use as exemplified by the anti mask league of san francisco.
Mask wearing rules first came up in the western states. Building his case capron posits the theory that poor mask hygiene during the spanish flu epidemic 1918 19 made the face coverings fomites objects capable of harboring and transmitting. The challenges we can expect from homemade masks.