A little background: I’m now writing a book which is a somewhat fictionalized account of an actual person, Florence Nightingale Ward, M.D. In 1918 she is is 58 years old and is a homeopath, surgeon, gynecologist, and obstetrician, and operates a woman-run hospital in downtown San Francisco. She is a leader in the homeopathic profession nationally and locally and is also respected in the regular medical profession because of her articles on hygiene and sterilization during surgery.
I’m posting this because of the relevance and similarity of the 1918 Pandemic and the pandemic we’re currently dealing with. Florence Ward and her colleagues are concerned about the sudden spread of a new kind of illness, that strikes with a kind of virulence they have not seen before. It has just begun to afflict people in California after moving across the country with soldiers and people traveling from the East…
It is late Summer of the year 1918, when we start hearing about the soldiers at the front dying, not so much from their wounds, but from an especially virulent influenza that has spread quickly through the trenches. We also read in the newspapers that many young men are dying suddenly and quickly of some mysterious disease in the army camps before they go to fight in Europe at the front. Last week, my dear nurse Dar’s nephew Oscar was stationed at Fort Pendleton in California, training as a soldier, when a large number of the young men there were stricken with the high fever, exhaustion and deep muscle aches that are the first signs of this illness. Thank goodness he called us and we were able to tell him which homeopathic remedy to take from the small kit Dar had given him and he recovered quickly.
By October a few of my patients are very ill with what at first seems like the flu, but if they are not treated with homeopathic medicine at the arrival of the first symptoms, it often will suddenly go into their lungs and a virulent form of pneumonia takes over. The usual fluids and rest do not help most of them, and homeopathic remedies are called for. My colleagues are also seeing more and more people suffering from this new illness, and soon reports of people dying of it are in the newspapers.
My sister Irene, and Dar, my nurse of 30 years, who we’ve invited to have dinner with us, and I come home exhausted and hungry from the hospital one evening, after we’d been administering to quite a few patients with pneumonia and had performed two surgeries. On top of that I gave a lecture at the medical college this morning.
As we walk in the entryway and take off our jackets and hats, Dar picks up the newspaper on the hall table, and looks up worriedly.
“Dar! You look so worried. Whatever is wrong?” I ask her.
Dar anxiously replies, “What a terrible thing this influenza is! They’re calling it the Spanish Lady because so many people have it in Spain. The headlines in the paper say that we must all go into quarantine. And no more large groups can meet. So many people are falling ill, and they think it’s because of exposing each other so easily.”
I hurry to the telephone in order to call Dorothy.
As I pick up the phone, Rose comes out from the kitchen and lets us know that dinner will be on the table soon.
“Thank you Rose, let us know when we should come into the dining room.”
I call out to Dar and Irene, “I’m just going to give Dorothy a call right away, I’ve been worried about her all day. One of my clinic patients mentioned her neighbor who was pregnant and caught the influenza, she got very ill and miscarried within hours. I don’t want to alarm Dorothy, but this really is dangerous for her and her baby.”
While I wait for her to pick up the telephone, I think about how suddenly this illness has arrived and how quickly it could spread through the city. I must mobilize our profession to prepare for this new and frightening sickness.
“Hello Dorothy, dear. Have been hearing about this awful influenza? I’m so worried about you and the baby.”
“Oh Mother, I’m glad you called! Yes, I did read about it in The Call today. Please don’t worry about us, I know it’s bad, but I can’t believe I’ll get it, I’m so healthy. But if you think it’s best, I’ll stay indoors as much as I can.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’re being careful, but I want you to stay in and not go out for a few weeks. We don’t know what is causing this to attack so many people and what makes it spread, so in the meantime, will you stay home for me? Can you have Morse do the errands?”
“Alright Mother, but I was just out at the stores, I’m glad I got a few things in I guess!”
“Oh, dear, well I hope you were careful! Now you be sure to ring me if you start to feel badly, will you promise me?”
“Of course, Mother, thank you, I will let you know, now I have to finish making dinner for Morse and me.”
After my call with Dorothy, I join Dar and Irene in the parlor.
“I’ve called a meeting with my colleagues soon to discuss what best we can do. Our patients who turn to us are getting relieved of their symptoms much more quickly than the allopaths’ patients, so we must treat as many people as we can.”
Dar says, “I hope we can treat a lot of people, already people are dying here in San Francisco! I hope none of us catch it! It seems to attack the younger, healthier people the hardest, like my poor Oscar.”
“Yes, I must telephone Lillian and Jean and make certain they’re being careful and not going out if possible. Especially Dorothy, with her pregnancy, I would hate for her to fall ill.”
Irene asks, “Did Dorothy take it seriously when you asked her to stay home?”
“I’m afraid she thinks I’m being over cautious. She was just out at the shops today, which worries me. I don’t think people realize how bad this can get. I hope Lillian and Jean will understand.”
“Of course they will, it’s hard to realize when you don’t see it yourself, the pneumonia cases today came on so quickly and forcefully, and people were so frightened,” Irene says as she takes off her shoes and puts her feet on the overstuffed ottoman and lets out a big sigh.
From behind the paper, Dar says, “It is so frightening! The newspaper has stories of the tram drivers pulling off dead bodies at the ends of the lines, people who were well enough to go to work, just die suddenly, without warning.”
Irene goes to Dar and hugs her and says, “Well, luckily, we have the best doctor in town here with us, and she’ll know what to do. And let’s see if we can sew some masks.”
I add, “I’m sure we all should wash our hands after we go out, as soon as we come into the house.”
A special meeting of the homeopathic group in San Francisco on October 12, 1918
I preside over the meeting. My speech opens up the discussion:
“There are so many questions about what we should and can do in the face of this terrible epidemic, but one of them is to stay in contact with each other so we know what homeopathic remedies and palliative care are working the best for our patients. The great Samuel Hahnemann was an expert at treating populations in epidemics and we must now look to his example of courage and fortitude to help us in this crisis.
May we have a report from each of us here today as to what symptoms we are seeing and what remedies are helping?
Dr. Boericke may we start with you?”
“Yes, thank you Dr. Ward, I am grateful to you for arranging this meeting at such an important time for us and for our patients.
I agree, it is very good for us to compare our cases and find a pattern to this virulent illness. This is what Hahnemann did and he had very good success in the cholera, scarlet fever, and yellow fever epidemics of his day. We also may be able to find a remedy or small group of remedies that could act prophylactically.
On the other hand, we must remember to take our clients’ cases individually and find the best remedy for them, not just assume that there is one magical pill for this. I have seen this present in a few differing ways, so I think we need to look at a group of remedies and even be open minded to the more unusual remedies for some of these cases, especially when it has progressed beyond the basic flu stage. So far in the milder cases of fever, exhaustion, and pain in the bones I have given Gelsemium, Bryonia, and Eupatorium perfoliatum with good results. For those who wait to come to me and have progressed to more fulminant pneumonia, Antimonium Tartaricum and Lauroceracus have been the two most helpful. But they must be repeated quite often and for many days, or we see a relapse.”
“Thank you Dr. Boericke. Would Dr. Goss please give us her report?”
“Yes, thank you Dr. Ward. I would agree with Dr. Boericke, I have given many of my patients Gelsemium early on, and have seen them get better within twenty-four hours from the chills, exhaustion and dullness they feel. I have also had a few patients who present with anxiety and fear, with the typical restlessness, chills, and burning pains. I would add Phosphorus for the later stage also, it is such a good pneumonia remedy.”
“Thank you, Dr. Goss, Dr. Chamberlain, are you seeing any cases of this influenza in the East Bay?”
“Unfortunately, yes I am. I have a number of families who have come down with this and I want to add, it seems to be the healthy young adults who get hit the hardest. I have given Gelsemium and Bryonia for many of my cases, but when there are complications such as pneumonia, or more unusual symptoms, I have used other remedies. When the fever goes particularly high, I will use Belladonna, but if the patient starts to go into sepsis, Baptisia and Pyrogen are life savers.
From what I understand, the allopaths are having a much harder time keeping their patients from dying than we are, so let’s keep up the good work!
I also must warn you all, this new medicine, this aspirin, that all the regular doctors are prescribing like candy, may be making matters worse for them. It does bring down the fever, but it seems to make the whole thing worse, and people are quickly going into pneumonia situations.”
“I agree,” says Dr. Tomlinson, “I have been hearing of people who were told to take large doses of aspirin, then take even more because they are so desperate, and dying within hours, coughing up blood from the lungs. I wish we could do more to stop this, when our homeopathic medicines are so curative and gentle.
We should be seeing homeopathy hailed from the rooftops right now, with our success at treating this terrible influenza. I will be speaking with the mayor tomorrow, so perhaps he can put out a statement that we have better answers for this and are happy to see more patients before the numbers of dead get out of hand, as they have in other cities.”
I add, “Yes Dr. Tomlinson, that is wonderful that you will meet with Mayor Rolph. Does anyone know Dr. Hassler? As the head of the public health department, he needs to hear from us. In fact, we should propose a meeting with city and health officials and business owners in order to strategize ways of keeping this very contagious malady under control. We must get masks out to the public and make it mandatory to wear them. Perhaps the Red Cross can make and distribute them. And because it is so contagious, we must limit how much people gather or go on with their daily lives. If we can treat the illness early enough, we can stop it from getting bad enough to go to hospital, is that what others are finding?”
Everyone nods their heads in agreement.
I add, “I’m concerned that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with patients as we are hearing about in other cities. Because homeopathy can help so quickly in the home, I’ve been making certain that as many of my patients as possible have a small group of remedies and instructions, so they can begin the treatment as soon as they see symptoms. This seems to be the best way, and Dr. Boericke and his pharmacy have been quick to put these particular remedies together for us. Many people already have remedies at home and most of them are already in these family kits, so that is making our work much easier.
It seems from what we’ve heard from today, that Gelsemium, Bryonia, Eupatorium perfoliatum and Arsenicum album are effective in the early stages and Phosphorus, Laurocerasus, and Antimonium Tartaricum are helping when it gets into the lungs.
Of course, there are a few other remedies that work well, but these are the main ones in the earlier stages, with the most cases recovering. But yes, we must take our patients’ cases and see what remedy fits their symptoms the best, especially if they have progressed to the pneumonia stage.
Would anyone else like to add anything? No? Alright, thank you, Dr. Adams, for typing up the notes which I hope we can distribute to those colleagues who weren’t able to meet with us today. I think we will all be working hard for the next few weeks. We must take great care of ourselves and our families in the midst of this. Please protect yourselves, especially when seeing patients, with a mask and gloves. With that, I end the meeting. Thank you all for coming at such short notice.”