geeky
This was a category 2 flu pandemic outbreak of influenzavirus A that originated in Singapore in early 1957. It was said to last into 1958. The first cases were actually reported in late 1956 Guizhou, a landlocked province in the southwest part of China. More cases were reported in the neighboring province of Yunnan before the end of February. On April, reports in the print media said that "an influenza epidemic has affected thousands of Hong Kong residents". The same month, Singapore also experienced an outbreak of this new flu. In Taiwan, 100 000 were affected by mid-May and India suffered a million cases by June. In late June, the pandemic reached the United Kingdom.
By June 1957 this flu had reached the United States. At first it caused few infections. Among the first affected were United States Navy personnel at destroyers docked at Newport Naval Station, as well as new military recruits elsewhere. But The first wave peaked in October among children who returned to school. A second wave occurred in January and February 1958 among elderly people, and it was in this population that the flu was much more fatal.
Microbiologist Maurice Hilleman was motivated by seeing pictures of those affected by the virus in Hong Kong published in The New York Times, causing him to obtain samples of the virus from a United States Navy doctor in Japan. The Public Health Service released the virus cultures to vaccine manufacturers on May 12, 1957, and a vaccine entered trials at Fort Ord on July 26 and Lowry Air Force Base on July 27. Although the vaccine was only available initially in limited quantities, it was rapidly deployed and this helped to contain the pandemic.
The cause of the virus was theorized to be from a mutation in wild ducks combining with a pre-existing human strain, but this is not a certain conclusion. Estimates of US and worldwide deaths caused by this pandemic vary widely. They range from approximately 69,800 to 116,000 in the United States, and worldwide from 1 million to 4 million. The World Health Organization (WHO) puts the number somewhere in the middle at "about 2 million".
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was aware of the impending pandemic, but he initially balked at starting a nationwide government-supported vaccination program. But once he appreciated the severity of the problem, in August of 1957, Eisenhower asked Congress for $500,000 in funding and authorization to shift an additional $2 million, if needed, to fight the outbreak. He set a goal of 60 million doses of vaccines, enough to vaccinate a third of the population, (which was around 171 million at that time). By early November, about 40 million doses had been given, and the pandemic began losing steam.
As the summer of 1957 U.S. Surgeon General Leroy E. Burney had warned of a “sweeping and widespread” outbreak of the flu that was coming to America. He said, “There will not be enough time, of course, to produce and administer sufficient vaccine to immunize a majority of the population before the influenza season.” Burney understood that sine there was a vaccine was a reason for hope. U.S. drug companies agreed to turn out eight million doses by mid-September, with another 50 million by Feb. 1.
Then as now, there was misinformation and rumors spreading about the cause of the flu. The surgeon general had to assure the public that the new flu mutation had not been caused by nuclear testing in the Pacific. He was asked if the Communists had planted the germs, Burney said, “No. I don’t believe that is a possibility. We have epidemics occasionally and have had them in the past.”
Eisenhower personally had repeatedly declined the opportunity to get vaccinated. He said that he wanted to be treated like a regular citizen and not get special treatment. But when the Public Health Service put out a news release recommending that older people with chronic diseases like heart trouble should be among the first inoculated, Eisenhower got the message that it was better for him to lead by example. On Aug. 26, the president finally got his jab.
A week later, the first 1,500 flu shots arrived in the District. The vaccines were administered to firefighters, police officers and the staff of D.C. General Hospital. Even the Naval Academy football team got their shots because, in the words of the team's athletic director, “We can’t afford to lose a game this season.”