The Spanish Lady Comes to London: the Influenza Pandemic 1918–1919

Abstract

London did not escape the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic, but, unlike some other municipalities, the capital's response was dependent not on one city-wide administration, but on borough authorities, each of which free to develop its own strategy. Londoners' resistance to infection was particularly low on account of massive social disruption, under-nourishment, food shortages and wartime stress. Unlike earlier epidemics, the vulnerable population were men and women between the ages of fifteen and forty.The prosecution of war took precedence over civilian health concerns, hence the authorities' response concentrated on advising on individual behaviour. In each of the three waves of the epidemic, it was assumed that influenza was beyond the scope of current medical knowledge and that the War's demands far outweighed those of the victims. London boroughs were themselves working under. the peculiar difficulties attendant on the war, not least of which was a severely depleted public health workforce. The public health authorities had traditionally tackled epidemics by a well-tried system of identification, vaccination, isolation, and disinfection, but this did not work against influenza. Individual boroughs reacted to local circumstances, but few took radical steps to combat the epidemic.