Well, most of us are holed-up in our homes, avoiding the Covid-19 Coronavirus. Stay-at-home orders are in place. Although I anticipated another flu pandemic, I did not see this one coming. Coronaviruses were just nasty colds before SARS. And that one seemed controllable. I watched this new Coronavirus unfold in Wuhan. I had plans to go to Washington state early March — visit my son and family, which we canceled due to the Coronavirus up there. My son thinks he probably got it in Jan and Feb, but of course, they were not testing for it at that time. But it stormed through his office like a tornado. I canceled my week with my mom and sisters in Southern California. No fun week.
So we stayed home. And we continue to stay home. Our research work in California is on-site at one of the universities, so we had to leave mid-March. All my kids are in crazy locations — New York, Northern California, Park City, and Washington state. We are home writing grants, keeping up on the paperwork side of our business, still paying our two subcontractors.
I’m thankful for many things. My grandkids are not in the vulnerable age group. My mom is in the age group, but hiding-out in her home. Very nice friends drop off food to her. Still, I have one daughter-in-law pregnant, and due in July. One delivered safely in February.
When I look at the statistics, I have no idea how this unfolds. But I try to get a perspective. Since there are so many people making graphics about pandemics, I suddenly became interested in looking at the past data. One thing for sure, not all graphics are equal in quality of data presentation. Some are skewed; some are inaccurate. Media is always biased, and they often sensationalize things. Still, we are learning a lot.
I’ve been reflecting on past pandemics and illnesses.
I had the Hong Kong Flu in 1968. I was a Sophmore in high school and didn’t know much about pandemics. I don’t recall much news about it. I was not afraid of dying, though. I only remember feeling tired and out of it for a few weeks. I remember sitting in Bob’s Big Boy after a football game and feeling not so great. Now, looking back, I realize that I was part of the Hong Kong flu epidemic that killed 1 million people worldwide and 100,000 in the United States. I don’t even remember my parents being worried.
I had mononucleosis in 1971 — my senior year of high school. I do remember that I was sick for months. I finally got better drinking a concoction of brewers yeast and grapefruit juice.
As a child, I was afraid of Lockjaw. My dad was worried about us getting polio –– we were never allowed to swim in public pools, especially one called Indian Springs where they did have an outbreak at one time.
In the 1960s, I had the measles — the dangerous one. I was in elementary school, I think. It lasted two weeks, and although it was never declared a pandemic, it continues to kill people and is at the top of the list for most contagious. The R0 range (basic reproduction number) for measles is 12 -18, meaning a single person can infect, on average, 12 to 18 people in an unvaccinated population.
I had the chickenpox. But never had Rubella, so the doc vaccinated me for that one before I started having kids. I think I missed the Mumps as well. I’ve had stomach flu and food poisoning, where I thought I would not survive. I don’t think I had the swine flu of 2009 – 2010. That was the year I moved and had terrible food poisoning just as I was packing up the last of my stuff.
I remember standing in line at my elementary school in the cafeteria to get the smallpox vaccination — a small prick in my upper arm. I also recall getting little pink sugar cups to immunize us against polio.
I’ve read books about these nasty pandemics. One was a fictional time-travel novel called The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis about the Bubonic Plague. Another true story was about the Ebola virus called The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Another called The Demon in the Freezer by the same author. I enjoyed listening to the book Polio: An American Story
I find this graphic fascinating — the site updates it daily for the data of Covid-19, so check it out as we progress.
Featured Image: May 1, 1918, Flu Quarantine
