You probably haven't gotten swine flu yet, but you're likely already sick--sick of hearing about it. A few hundred people have died of the disease in our part of the world and the Centers for Disease Control is asking everyone to accept vaccinations against the disease in hopes of heading off a major epidemic. Still, hearing too much about an epidemic is a lot better than hearing nothing.When we went through the worst flu epidemic the country has ever seen, people were dying of flu right and left but almost nothing was said about it.

World War I was the first war that America took part in simply to help others. The Germans and their allies didn't want the U.S. in the war and did what they could to keep us out, but once we got into it in April of 1917, the federal government basically took over the country, telling us what to do, what to eat and what to think. The world's first public relations effort was formed to keep Americans in a fighting mood whatever the situation, and newspapers (the only news source of the time) were told to stay in line with what Uncle Sam wanted, and that included a raging flu epidemic made worse by young soldiers being kept in overcrowded conditions. By the time it ran its course, the influenza epidemic of 1918 had killed between 21 and 50 million people worldwide, more than were killed by the war, but a look at the newspapers of the day would make one think it was a minor problem that was always somehow declining in urgency.

For years the disease was incorrectly called the Spanish Influenza, and sure enough, in June of 1918, the San Antonio Light made an offhand comment about the appearance of the disease in Spain. A month later the newspaper noted that the flu had broken out behind German lines. "Why the disease did not appear in Allied armies may be explained by the maintenance of sanitary conditions..." the article added. The truth was that the disease had likely started in American army camps, with the origination in western Kansas that spring. But such matters were not to be considered - at least until the existence of the flu in the United States could no longer be ignored.

Like the swine flu, the 1918 flu began in the spring and returned in the fall. It struck Camp Devens, outside Boston, with 1000 cases reported in the Light on September 16. The truth, as John Barry reported in his book Influenza, was that more than six thousand young men jammed the camp hospital, and 70 of 200 nurses had fallen ill. At least 500 young men died at Camp Devens, but military authorities underreported everything for fear of heartening the Germans.

In San Antonio, Barry noted, more than half the city's population was ill with influenza that fall, but the newspaper said on October 6 that crowded conditions at Camp Travis were "rapidly being relieved," and "it is believed that there is no occasion for alarm." The next day the paper said the illness "took a new turn - 30 nurses are stricken." The day after that, the Light said the "epidemic is now under control in southern [army] camps," but on the 11th the News admitted almost 200,000 soldiers had the disease, and 830 of them had died just the day before. Still, the local headline was "Influenza in the city shows a falling off, with only (!) 143 new cases reported, but "quite a large number of them [were] merely bad colds..."

On October 12, the Light reported the "epidemic is now declining in [the] Army," while right below it noted that "Philadelphia needs grave diggers" because of the huge toll there. Somehow this was an epidemic that was killing tens of thousands of Americans but was constantly declining. On the 16th, the Light quoted a military official saying "there is influenza in the country, but there is no epidemic of influenza so serious as to cause alarm." In the same day's paper was a headline that "Influenza reaches epidemic stage in almost every state," and a note that Fort Worth had ordered all "churches, public schools, theaters and picture shows closed until further notice."

It was on the 16th that all public places in San Antonio were closed "as a precaution," and schools were closed indefinitely, with the city's health officer announcing "this is simply a precautionary measure and should not cause undue alarm." In fact, the News reported, "influenza was [again] decreasing in army circles," and one general "indicated the disease is now under control in the army," although figures would be announced later. The next day the News headlined "Influenza is on decrease in city," although it listed 110 new cases at Fort Sam Houston alone.

On the nineteenth, the News's editorial page had a list of what to do to avoid the disease. Most of it was common-sense suggestions such as avoiding crowds and not spitting in public, but number ten was "Don't worry and keep your feet warm." The constantly-decreasing epidemic still had plenty of kick - restrictions were placed on Camp Travis from December 7-26 to keep the flu from spreading. Finally, on December 19, the war won, the Light was able to report that "only 69 new cases of disease are reported for Wednesday." Sixty-nine cases of such a contagious disease should normally terrify medical authorities; the low-key note makes it clear just how bad the unreported epidemic had been. On December 22, local theaters finally reopened, featuring a vaudeville animal act with an "intellectual bulldog" and a play that promised "A Laugh a Second - A Shout a Minute." It was unlikely any of the jokes were about the epidemic.

Perhaps the swine flu will mutate this fall and cause far more illness than expected, but what worries me while reading about the deadly epidemic of 1918 is how easy it is for the news media to ignore a big story if they believe there is a "higher goal." In that case, it was the "war to end all wars." In recent years the media have set global warming, spotted owls, homelessness and other plights above their responsibility to report objectively. It doesn't work. This country can survive bad leadership - it has many times over the years - but it can't survive bad reporting.

San Antonio News front page from October 10, 1918. Note the tiny story in the right-hand column about 200,000 cases of influenza in the army. Theater page from the San Antonio Light, December 21, 1918, with ad noting "Goodby Flu, We Are Through With You."

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