1976 Swine Flu Outbreak

    There is no doubt that history has a cyclic nature. We can find periodicity of different events in certain cities, countries, and the world in general. That’s why after the pandemic flu that occured in 1918 and lasted a year and a half the government was extremely concerned about a new flu outbreak in 1976. 

     The episode began in February, when an Army recruit at Ft. Dix, N.J., fell ill and died from a swine flu virus thought to be similar to the 1918 strain. The following days several other soldiers became ill and two cases of the flu strain were reported in Virginia. Certainly, the panic spread as in 1918 the flu pandemic killed half of a million Americans and 50 million people worldwide. Officials took the decision to vaccinate people and in early October the $137-million vaccinating program began. 

      Unfortunately, the program turned out to be a great failure. First, the epidemic never broke out. What is more, within days after the first vaccinations the scientists found out that the vaccine appeared to increase the risk for Guillain-Barre syndrome. This syndrome causes temporary paralysis and can be fatal. To the moment of this discovery 40 million Americans were already vaccinated, that made almost 25% of the population. The program was closed in December. However, more than 500 people have developed Guillain-Barre syndrome after the vaccination, 25 died. This case had great consequences and the government paid millions in damages to the victims and their families. The pandemic never unfolded. Only about 200 cases of swine flu were reported in the USA. Dr. Richard Krause, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1976, who worked on the program of vaccination, noted that public health officials involved in the next pandemic flu threat “have my best wishes.”. 

        All in all, even though history tends to repeat, you can never predict exactly when it will happen.