• Books
• Related Sites
• Blog
• Articles

 

 

 The 1976 Swine Flu Outbreak

 

 

The 1976 swine flu outbreak

Swine flu outbreaks are not uncommon. In fact the global pandemic of 1918 was caused by a variant of the swine flu virus that is currently in circulation.

The last previous case of swine flu occurred in 1976 at Fort Dix, New Jersey in the United States. It was an unusual outbreak of swine flu because it started suddenly killing one army recruit and hospitalizing a number of fellow officers. Further tests were made at Fort Dix and a further two hundred recruits were found to have acquired the virus. However, they showed few to no symptoms unlike the first group that suffered severely from the swine flu virus.

 

As soon as the 1976 virus was identified as been similar to the one responsible for the 1918 influenza pandemic, the United States public health officials did not hesitate in launching an incredible mass vaccination program.

 

But the program was plagued with problems

Unfortunately the 137-million dollar program was hit by a number of problems that delayed the mass release of the vaccine.In the end vaccinations started three months later than promised and only 25% of the population were treated.To make matters worse no pandemic surfaced, only 200 cases of swine flu was reported. The 1976 swine flu influenza never spread beyond the shores of the United States, in fact there were only a few cases outside of Fort Dix itself.

 

Also the vaccine produced was associated with cases of Gullian-Barré syndrome, a rare paralyzing neuromuscular condition. In the end the vaccine was reputed to have been related to more than 500 cases of Gullian-Barré syndrome and of been responsible for 25 deaths.
To summarize, the vaccine killed more people than swine flu, the disease it was supposed to prevent.

 

 

Lessons to be learned from the 1976 swine flu outbreak

The authorities had no choice but to go ahead with a mass immunization program. All the evidence pointed to a possible pandemic and in an attempt to stop it from spreading a national immunization program had to have been launched.But it could have been planned better. The technical difficulties that plagued the production of the vaccine could have been avoided.

 

Also the media’s participation in the whole affair could have been better. From initially supporting the idea of the vaccine in the beginning they quickly turned on the whole scheme after no further serious incidence of swine flu appeared after the Fort Dix outbreak.
In instances of a possible serious global outbreak of a major pandemic, the media have a moral obligation to galvanize and unite people towards working together to overcome the problem.