When a Drouin historian set out to research and write about the influenza pandemic hitting Gippsland a century ago, he had no idea how timely his work would be.
“It was just an incredible chance occurrence,” Federation University Professor of History Erik Eklund said. “By the time I submitted it for publication, we were in the middle of the next global pandemic.”
In acknowledgement of his work, Mr Eklund’s article titled “The Dreaded Pneumonic Influenza Has Made its Appearance Amongst Us’: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 in Gippsland, Victoria” was last week short-listed for the Victorian Premier’s History Award.
Mr Eklund first delivered an outline of his article in October and November 2019 to groups in Traralgon, Clunes and Korumburra with no knowledge that the world was on the cusp of COVID-19.
He asked audiences if we had the bonds of unity and social cohesion needed to cope with a new pandemic.
“I asked how would we survive today. Most believed we wouldn’t.”
In comparing the 1919 “Spanish Flu” outbreak and the current COVID-19 outbreak, Mr Eklund reflected “there’s lots of similarities”.
“Basic public health measures were followed,” he said, with the sick isolated, schools shut, and public meetings suspended. Masks were worn, hygiene practices were promoted, and the West Gippsland Gazette urged residents to avoid train travel as the influenza spread into Gippsland predominantly via the rail network. A vaccine was even developed.
The differences include local volunteer organisations such as the Red Cross playing vital roles along with smaller cottage-style hospitals, he said. The closed Korumburra State School was even turned into a temporary hospital.
Mr Eklund said Australia’s strong maritime controls meant the virus didn’t spread out into the Australian community until late January 1919. When it did, the variant was less virulent to that seen in Europe.
“I looked from the perspective of what it was like to be here waiting for the virus to arrive.”
The first Gippsland case was a Sale businessman who travel to and from Port Melbourne before isolating at home.
Due to poor records, it is impossible to know how many Gippslanders died during the pandemic. However, it is believed 20 to 30 per cent of people got influenza symptoms and 15,000 died across Australia.
“The cases started to just peter out by September,” Mr Eklund said of the Gippsland outbreak. “I can find very few reports of very serious flu. There were subsequent seasons of bad flu in the 20s, but they were put down to seasonal flu.”
Mr Eklund acknowledged the assistance of Drouin History Group’s Diane Cook and family historians who contributed their stories.